


Of Ghosts and Men

by Agathia



Series: Supernatural AU (no, not the show) [1]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, No Romance, Too ooc to function, no beta we just die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:02:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 53,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23052910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agathia/pseuds/Agathia
Summary: “I refuse to get dragged into this shitstorm of a world,” said 21 years-old engineering student, Tango Tek.“Nah,” said every other person/supernatural/spirit/demonic creation in his life.
Series: Supernatural AU (no, not the show) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813624
Comments: 134
Kudos: 192





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you don't like OOC and also maybe grammar mistakes, I wouldn't recommend.

Tango had a problem.

He may or may not be possessed.

Really, he doesn’t even know he ended up here, right outside the local church. He didn’t even know this town _had_ a church. You really learn something new every day. Tango wished he didn't.

The sun was shining down cheerily, maybe somewhat harshly as well. Tango couldn’t be bothered to make up his mind at the moment. He was late for class. _Really_ late for class. Impossibly late. He couldn't get there in time even with some kind of divine interruption. 

Yep, Tango Tek, officially screwed.

He blinked, as if somehow that would magically whisk him back in time. Or, really, do anything. Of course, it didn’t, because apparently whatever creature/spirit possessing him wasn’t capable of anything other than making its host walk for 3 km straight then disappearing.

At least he managed to avoid Mr. Void.

Tango took a few leisure steps down the stone stairway. He could appreciate the architecture, at least. It was a rather old church, very Gothi-

His eyes glazed over for a moment, and Tango found himself peering into a void of strings. He frantically shook his head. 

Things went back to normal.

Annoyed, Tango pinched himself a few times, letting his thoughts drifted back to normal. Right, the church. 

No doubt his class would be taking a field trip here some point in the year. Or not. He heard that funding decreased this year. God knows how the school hadn’t closed yet, what’s with all the budget cuts. Hopefully it could last for one more year before collapsing, so he could actually graduate college and get the hell out of this place.

Not likely. But hey, even he could hope now and again.

There weren’t a lot of people around, maybe because there weren’t a lot of people here in the first place. Nobody really stuck out. A lady cleaning up her goggles near the bench. A group of tourists taking photos of the church. 

Tango had half a mind to tell them that this church really wasn’t anything special. Just one out of a thousand others. You could find one anywhere.

Really, nothing special ever happened here. _Absolutely_ nothing. Thank you, goodbye. 

The last thing this town needed was more attention.

But that seemed a bit rude, so instead he opened his bag and pulled out the mess that was his school notes. The least he could do was get some studying done before going home.

The tourists murmured to each other faintly. He could heat one of them laughing. Another was speaking in a foreign language. Sounded like French, but he was no linguist.

"Qu'est qui se passe?"

"Je m'ennuie!"

"You bastard!"

Huh, one of those doesn't sound right.

Tango glanced up right in time to look down again, barely avoiding the staff passing over his head. The sound of jiggling rings ran out. 

Tango hoped he looked cool, at least.

The staff swung again, rings clattered against each other. Tango leaned back, avoiding the staff. He could hear an annoyed grumble. Good, at least somebody was having as bad of a day as him.

"Hello, how are you on this fine morning?" Tango rolled his eyes.

"Begone, demon!"

"Yes, I'm alright as well," Tango murmured, quickly getting up onto his feet and jumping above the oncoming staff. Or was it a k'rik? It sounded like a k'rik. He hated k'riks.

He wasn't keen on getting wailed in the face. Especially not with a k'rik. Especially not today. 

Or, really, any day, for that matter, "What are you doing?"

"Doing my job!" The person holding the staff yelled, "Getting rid of you demon!"

"I am appalled," Tango put a hand on his chest dramatically, "That you think that I'll just-WHOOP-stand here and take this offense. Besides, I'm not even a demon."

Mid sentence, he jumped again to avoid the staff hitting his legs.

The guy glared. If only look could kill. If only, "If you're not a demon, then what are you?"

Tango shrugged, “I don’t know? Just a normal person the last time I checked!”

The attack stopped, "I must admit. This is the first time I hear a demon speaking English."

Tango paused, "Really?"

"Yeah," the guy said, "Normally it's Italian."

And then he rammed the staff against Tango's chest, knocking him backward. In the blink of an eye, he was on top of the supposed demon.

Tango coughed, because what else could you do after getting knocked over by a wooden pole.

"Got you."

"Wh-What's-" Tango croaked, "What's your problem...with... Italian?"

"Oh. Nothing," the guy blinked, "I was just kidding."

"It was...a stupid joke," Tango coughed, finally feeling the pain leaving his body, "Fuck you. Leave me alone."

The guy, freak him, smirked, "No can do, buddy."

Tango rolled his eyes weakly, "Then just kill me please, and get it over quickly."

"Wow, you're really subverting expectations here. I thought you demon kinds are supposed to be savage beasts, not sassy-"

Tango kicked his legs hard, crippling the other guy. Luckily, that had given him enough time to stand up and dashed off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this got deleted somehow, but here it is again.


	2. Chapter 2

He was forced to leave his bag behind. It was too bad. He really liked that bag. Welp, can’t get it back now, lest he wanted a k’rik up his ass.

That really came out wrong.

Tango fumbled on the keys, desperate to not embarrass himself when his hallmate was right there. Zedaph, room 002, chill guy. Tango didn’t know him very well other than the fact that he probably smoke weed, if the scent of grass he carried around everywhere was anything to go by.

After a few seconds, he was finally able to unlock the door. It creaked open, because he lived in your typical haunted house. Except it wasn’t a house, it was an apartment. Maybe that’s why he was able to keep all the ghosts out. They wanted a big, comfortable house, not some cramped flat.

Like everywhere else he goes, Tango was lowkey suspicious of his house. Came with the experience, he still remembered the angry ghoul bunking in the closet that he chased out at the beginning. Good times. Not really.

He turned on the light, which blinked before it started fully. He’ll have to get that fixed soo-

“Blinking light? Could you get anymore demonic?” Tango jumped, whirling around to face his couch, he came eye to eye with Mr. K’rik, who twirled his staff as he casually sat on Tango’s couch, “You would only need the number. Seriously, I’m sure you can negotiate with your landlord to get room 666 upstairs. It’s empty now.”

“Who are you to call demonic when you’re sitting on my couch in the dark, just waiting for me to come like a fucking creep?” Tango grumbled, “And 004 is a perfectly good number, thank you.”

“Whatever dude, won’t matter when you’re dead,” Mr. K’rik got up from his seat and started walking slowly toward him. It was all pretty cliché. Tango hated it.

“Did you get my bag at least?”

“Oh, that thing? I did you a favour and got rid of it.”

“Why do you sound like a villain?”

“You’re the villain here.”

Tango sighed and picked up his chair. Holding it in front of him like a shield, he said, “Right, how about you just leave me alone, and we could both part as friends, and not dead bodies.”

“Nah,” came the reply, then Tango felt the butt of the k’rik met his abdomen. He yelped in pain, dropping the chair and crashing back against the wall. Mr. K’rik approached him all hero-like, like he wasn’t beating up an unarmed civilian or something. Weren’t there rules against these types of bullshit?

This was why he hated the supernatural and all things associated. They don't care about rules, they don't care about order. They just do whatever they want.

Mr. K’rik raised his staff above his head and chanted something. Probably Latin, he seemed like the extra type. Tango closed his eyes. Was this how he was going to die? With nobody to remember him? Curse his luck.

Suddenly, he felt his body willed itself to move. Like a puppet on strings, Tango raised an arm above his head, as if trying to stop the staff.

And then he screamed.

Pain racked through his body like waves. He screamed until his throat was raw and his voice faltered. As tears poured down his cheeks, Tango couldn’t help but think this looked really lame.

“Oh, please, stop your whining,” an annoyed voice said and Tango was lifted from the ground. He opened his eyes, finally, and saw Mr. K’rik.

“Wha-” 

“A ghost just jumped out of your body, if you didn’t realize,” Mr. K’rik winced, “Sorry, I thought it was a demon instead.”

Oh.

He was really possessed. Tango cursed at himself. He realized that, but somehow the ghost was still able to get him. Fuck.

“-Also,” Mr. K’rik continued on his ramble, “Sorry about your eye.”

_What?_

Tango reached for his eyes, and then it suddenly hit him. He jumped as the pain spiked and some kind of warm liquid dripped down his left cheek. He tried to find his eyeball through the eyelid, but to his horror, nothing was there.

The world suddenly went black.

Strings floated all around him, illuminating white glow. He glanced up, and instead of Mr. K’rik in front of him, he saw a tangled bundle of golden string in a vaguely humanoid shape. 

_Oh, for fuck’s sake-_

Tango slapped himself several times, then pinched himself several more times. Nothing changed. The strings were still there, floating around. The strings-

Was he stuck here?

No, Tango refused to believe. After so many years of avoidance, he refused to believe some ghost just took his eye and fuck him over like this.

He could feel his body being shaken by something. The bundle of red string moved closer and closer. Some parts of it even reached out for him. And then-

Everything went back to normal. 

Except, not quite.

The strings were still there, glowing with their annoying light. But they were faded, reduced to a filter over the real world. He could actually see Mr. K’rik’s body now. His hands and chest and annoying face. Freak him still, but Tango hadn’t felt such relief in a long time.

He could still see the golden strings, tangled and faint, but at least…

“...You okay?”

“Huh?” Tango jumped.

“I don’t know man. You started looking around like you’re seeing ghosts,” Mr. K’rik gripped his staff, “Which by the way, if you are, tell me, so I can destroy the darn thing before it escape again.”

“No,” Tango took a deep breath, left eye still closed, “N-No ghost."

“Good, then what was that?” Mr. K’rik looked him up and down in worry, “I mean, I know you just lost an eye, but that was still a bit strange.’

The strings moved slightly, shifting their position so that they were even more tangled than before. Some fell to the ground and disappeared.

Tango wondered what that was.

“Look, if you’re alright, then I have a job to do right now, and I should be getting on with it,” Mr. K’rik pointed at the door, “So…”

“Just go,” Tango gasped out, hand on his eye again. He still couldn’t believe he lost it.

“Okay..uh...” Mr. K’rik waved, “Well then, good luck, I guess.”

He closed the door behind him, leaving Tango in his apartment, alone except for that stupid light, which had begun blinking again from the fight. He would have to get that fixed. And also clean up everything. And also bandage his eyes.

But Tango found himself stumbling to the couch. He also found himself slumping onto it.

Lastly, he found himself closing the eye he had left.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time he finished bandaging his right eye, he was late for class and blood had begun caking up in his sink. He could see their strings, flowing around, a sickly grey colour

Welp, he would have to clean that up later, along with the rest of his apartment. But not right now. Right now, he’d have to run to his class with a piece of bread between his mouth like those anime protagonists.

Alas, he was out of bread (Tango mentally added grocery shopping to his to-do-list, alongside cleaning up and buying a pirate eyepatch). So he was just running to class with an empty stomach. He’ll just grab a sandwich from the food court after class, no problem.

When he had woken up that morning, he had hoped that the string would be gone, that he was back to normal, or at least as normal as he could be. No such luck. They were still there. It was a surreal experience seeing himself in the mirror as a series of strings hung by some invisible force that overlapped with reality.

Most of the students were seated when he got there, unsurprisingly. Most, meaning the dozen or so students nerdy enough to take classes at 7 in the morning. Tango ran to his usual seat, briefly waving hello to the bundle of green strings that was Mumbo (he doesn’t actually know the guy, but they worked on a project once).

Fortunately, the lack of many students also meant that most of the people there didn't notice his new get up, which included a bandaged left eye. Good, he really doesn’t want any question right now.

The lecture went by without any trouble. The students sat down, then left just as quickly. Tango finished typing out the last word on his document, before quickly packing up and filing out with his peers.

He was just about to get out of the lecture hall, but a sudden voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Mr. Tek, do you have a moment?”

\-----------------------

_"You keep showing up with injuries everywhere and expect me not to-"_

_"I'm fine, professor. I'm surprised you even notice."_

_"You have been my student for 2 freaking years, and I'm not going to just sit around when you're getting hurt."_

_"It was an accident."_

_"That's what you keep saying, yes."_

_"I'm fine, professor."_

_\-----------------------_

"I am," Tango repeated.

Professor Docm looked at him like he was crazy, "Mr. Tek, you lost an eye. What's next? Your head?"

"It won't get that far, sir, I promise."

"Yes, as you kept on saying," the professor sighed, adjusting the top hat he wore everywhere.,"...If I don't know better, I would be suspecting some kind of domestic abuse-

"I live alone," Tango said bluntly.

"I know that," the professor sighed, "Mr, Tek...if you need anything, ju-"

"I'm completely fine, professor," Tango snapped, " _Completely_. _Fine_."

"...Of course,” the professor said, “I’ll still be coming over this weekend to make sure. Maybe we could make you a cyborg eyeball or something.”

"...If you don't need anything else, sir, I have an appointment to make."

“Yes, yes. Go ahead.”

Tango turned sharply and practically ran to the doorway. But before he could successfully make it out the door, his teacher called out, "Tango?"

Gosh darn it, "Yes, professor?"

"You are okay, right?" The professor looked at him, worried, "If you are having any trouble..."

"Don't worry, sir" Tango hesitated for a moment before shrugging, "...I'll live."

\-----------------

After a visit to the clinic, Tango was told that he will indeed live. Somehow, his eye hadn't bled out on him and even healed itself a bit. The doctor bandaged up his eye properly then waved him out.

Magic, it was definitely magic. His eye was literally missing, and he didn't feel anything other than a dull ache.

 _Ugh_.

So here he was, in the town square, lamenting his life whilst trying to ignore all the coloured strings surrounding him. The paved cobblestone ground was a network of threads. The water strings flowing down gracefully. All of them grey coloured, a signature sign of nonliving objects.

Watching the grey water threads poured down, it finally dawned on him. That he might never get his vision back again.

What a stupid scenario he had found himself in. Having only one eye and seeing things that will surely drive him insane one day, he was sure of it.

All because one stupid ghost.

"Tch..." Tango stood up, tearing his gaze away from the fountain of grey threads, not that it mattered what he was looking at. They were all strings anyway.

He opened his bag to check if he had remembered to buy extra bandages before heading in the direction of his house.

It was getting late, the sun setting in the horizon painted the sky with a warm hue. Stars had come out, faint white dots in the sky. As the air turned cold, the crowds thinned, not that there were many in the first place. Not in this town, truly both its blessing and its curse.

Tango stumbled his way down the empty street, not even bothering to look both ways before running across the crosswalk.

The gravel kicked from beneath him as he jogged. His apartment flat was in the distance and not too far away was the college. He passed by a convenience store and slowed down.

Maybe he should buy himself a treat. As an apology to himself for the shitty day. Yeah, that does sound good.

But as he was making his way inside the shop, debating whether to get an ice cream or a meat bun, he was abruptly shoved to the ground. Tango grunted in pain, swearing under his breath.

"What the heck?" He glanced up, fully expecting an apology. But the figure remained silent, watching him intently.

"Hey!" Tango yelled to the figure, "Hey! Are you listening?" The figure just stood there, still.

He stood up and waved, "Hello! You just pushed me over and that’s a pretty shitty thing to do now?"

He attempted to push the person, but nothing happened.

Literally, nothing.

His hand passed unceremoniously through the figure, he didn't even feel any contact. Tango glanced down in horror at his hand, then back up again.

He waved a few more times, each one of them passing through like…

Like there was nobody there.

That was when Tango finally saw it. Gosh, it was bad if he was confused between the two worlds already, but he didn't care at that moment.

The signature bundle of strings of a human was there, black, shaped exactly like any other person.

But there wasn't anything in the real world, at least, nothing that he could see. He might as well have been waving at air.

"What...?" Tango whispered, frantically waving, as if somehow it would change what was in front of him into a physical person, "Hey! What are you?"

He glared at the...thing, examining the thing from up to bottom

That was when Tango got his second heart attack of the day.

Entangled within the black strings was a white blob dotted with red. Tango pinched himself, trying to ignore the thread filter and focused on reality.

And he saw clearly what it was.

"Why do you have my eye?" Tango asked, "...Wait..."

He covered his mouth and glanced up at what he now knows as a ghost. The same one that had, the previous day, stolen his eyeball.

He had been lamenting about never being normal again, and now this happened. Maybe some cosmic deity had been looking out for him. Here was his key back to his ordinary life, right there in front of him.

As if in a trance, Tango reached out for the eye he had lost. He was so focused on it that he didn't see the ghost moving until it was too late.

He yelped, loudly this time, as he was pinned to the ground. His limbs flayed, attempting to break out of the hold, but he couldn't move however hard he tried. Tango, eyes wide in fear, saw the stringy mess of a ghost reached out, moving slowly to his right eye.

"No..." He tried to cry out, but all that left was a pitiful whine, "No, don't…” The ghost reached further, and his vision was filled with blackened strings..

"Hey man, are you okay?"

The ghost stood up abruptly and fled. Tango didn't have the time to comprehend what happened before quickly being hefted onto his feet. He turned around and was met with the still annoying face of Mr. K'rik.

"You-" Tango panted, "What are you doing?”

"I would ask you the same, you were flailing around like you're poss-"

"No! _What_ are you doing here?" Tango pointed frantically, "Aren't you an exorcist? There was a ghost right there!"

"There w-" Mr, K'rik looked over his shoulder, "Where?"

Tango glanced back. He could still see the blackened strings running straight ahead of them.

"Over there!" Tango jumped, "Right there! Are you blind?"

Mr. K'rik looked like he was about to protest, but decided against it. Instead, he asked, "You can see it right? Run. I'll follow you."

Tango nodded before taking off after the ghost. Behind him, he could hear the sound of Mr. K'rik's footsteps.

Thankfully, the ghost wasn't that fast, and they were right on its tail after a few minutes. Tango panted heavily, but kept with the speed. The ghost floated over the cobblestone onto a crosswalk, and they were nearly caught up with him.

Just a few more steps, Tango couldn't help but grin, and he will be alright.

Just a few more steps.

Tango reached out, his hands practically brushing against the black threads.

"Watch out!"

Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled back by a strong hand and before Tango could comprehend what was going on, a fast car raced past both of them.

He gasped, his brain not being able to catch up. But there was one thing he does know.

"It's gone," Tango felt like collapsing right there in the middle of the crosswalk, "It's gone. No...nonono-"

It might have been his only chance. And he lost it. He lost it completely.

"Do you want me to call a hospital or something?" Mr. K'rik asked, "You're the guy that lost his eyeball, aren't you? I know it's a traumatic experience and all-"

"You don't understand!" Tango snapped, "I try. I _tried_ to stay away from you people! Why don't you just _leave_ me alone!"

"Uh...Is this a bad time?"

"You're an exorcist aren't you?" Tango repeated.

"Well, yes. Technically apprentice, but-"

"Why aren't you doing your darn job then?" Tango screamed, "You know? Exorcising stuff? Ring any bells?"

"I didn't see anything!" Mr. K'rik protested.

" _What_?"

"Yes!"

Tango took a deep breath, "You're a freaking ghost hunter, but you can't see ghost? Not even any devices to help you see them?”

"Those don’t exist, and I'm a normal human!" Mr. K'rik argued, "I can't see anything if they're not haunting somebody, alright?"

"Wow..." Tango said, "You're a shitty exorcist."

"I can send them back to the underworld," Mr. K'rik protested, "If they possess somebody, I can recognize all the symptoms and _then_ I can exorcise them! I don't just...spot them randomly on the street!"

Tango carried himself to the other side of the road, looking around to see if, somehow, he could spot any blackened strings. There was nothing. Only grey threads of inanimate objects and the angry mess of golden tangle that made up Mr. K’rik, “Do all the people you exorcise lose their eye?”

Mr. K’rik shook his head, “Just you, sorry. It must have wanted yours lot, if it returned for another one. Guess it like red."

“Oh,” Tango plopped himself down onto the ground, head hung low, “Amazing. Absolutely _splendid_. Yay for me.”

Mr. K'rik on the other hand, was pacing around with restless energy, “It’s strange. I’ve never seen a ghost attack another supernatural.”

"What do you mean?” Tango questioned, “I’m not a supernatural.”

“You’re not?”

“Isn't it obvious?"

“Okay then...that's weird,” Mr. K’rik blinked, “Just how exactly were you able to see that ghost?”

Tango sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cringe is real writing this, but I digress. 
> 
> Anyway, for anybody wondering what a k'rik (A.K.A khakkhara. A.K.A pewter staff) is, it's a type of Buddhist staff with rings. The rings (which make noise when they hit each other) are to announce one's presence and drive away animals.


	4. Chapter 4

Professor Docm, or just Doc for short, sighed. He had been glaring at the same text message for 15 minutes, debating his option on what to do.

 _Ren_ _: Hey man_

 _Ren:_ _Heard there’s an exorcist in town_

 _Ren_ _: If you want to leg it to the next city, I could give you a ride._

Exorcist. Damn exorcists. Humans meddling in the business of the supernatural and dared to call themselves saviours. Doc grimaced in disgust, hands instinctively reaching out for the top hat that hid his goat horns.

If one of those wretches was coming in, then who knows how many are next. If there were too many, he would never survive here.

It was time to skip town.

But Doc knew that he couldn’t, not after he saw what Tango looked like that morning. One eye missing, all angry and spiteful. Something had happened, and Doc wasn’t about to leave his student out in the storm like that.

Doc looked at the text message he got from Ren once again and pursed his lips, his mind running for possible reasons to stay.

One exorcist. Was it worth leaving for? He had been here for over 50 years and it had begun to feel like home. 

...He could always leave when more came.

He could run away if they got too close to suspecting.

Or just kill the ones that found out the truth.

As long as they don’t all know who he was and started banding together, he should be fine. Doc smiled, nodding to himself as he listed off all the things he could do to stay. Once he had successfully convinced himself, he took his phone and typed out.

 _Docm_ : _No, thanks, I’m good._

 _Rendog:_ _kay._

 _Rendog_ _: if you change your mind, just give me a call._

Doc smiled to himself. He could practically see Ren right now, ears wagging in worry. 

_Docm:_ _ty. But probably not._

He wondered what Tango was going to be cooking this weekend.

\-----------------------

"So let me get this straight," Mr. K'rik paced around the room, "You can see magical strings that somehow make up everything even though that makes zero sense. But you are still, somehow, a human."

"That's the gist of it, yes," Tango rolled his eyes as he settled the tea down onto the table, "I used to be able to just turn it off when I don't want to see it, which is all the time. But after I lost an eye...I don't know...it kinda malfunctioned and now I see both worlds stacked on top of each other."

"...Wow," Mr. K'rik blinked, "...Or maybe you're just insane."

"Take in or leave it," Tango snapped, "Either way, I still want my eye back, and that ghost got it."

"Yeah, and I want that ghost," Mr. K'rik smiled, "We could work something out here."

"I don't like the sound of that one bit," Tango grumbled, "Can you just exorcise the darn thing?"

"I told you, it doesn't work like that."

"No, it doesn't. But your way sucks."

"You think I don't know that," Mr. K'rik sighed, "Look, I'm just trying my best here, okay? Do you have a better idea?"

"I _might_."

"Okay then, one-eye. Let's hear it."

"...Do you seriously call me that?"

Mr. K'rik stopped pacing, "It was Possessed Dude before."

"Wow, thanks."

"I'm pretty sure what _you_ call me is going to be worse? What is it? Exorcist Guy? That dude who saved me but I still somehow hate him?"

Tango hesitated. Now that he thought about it, Mr. K'rik was kind of a stupid name. Nevertheless, he still said it.

Mr. K'rik laughed his ass off when he heard it, which didn't make Tango feel any better about himself. But hey, at least it wasn't One-Eye.

"Okay, both of our nicknaming skills need some work," Mr. K'rik wiped away a tear at the corner of his eye, "How about we just say our real name instead?"

"You could go first."

"No, you."

"...No."

"...Stop being stubborn and just say it. I'm sure it's not gonna kill you to...maybe...probably"

Tango glared at the exorcist, "Tango."

"Great, no last name then. Mine is Impulse."

Impulse. That sounded like the kind of silly name that a superhero would use. But then again, his own name was literally a type of dance.

"Alright then, _Impulse_. This ghost needs to be taken down, I think we both know that."

"Yes."

"And we need a plan."

"Yes." Impulse repeated.

Tango sighed, "...Well, I have the beginning of one, but I might need your help for the later half. What say you?"

Impulse shrugged and settled down on the couch, "Hit me with it, dude."

\----------------

It was the dead of night. The street, silent, not helped by the chirping of crickets that roamed the grass. Up above, bats were flying through the air like it was some horror movie. Very aesthetically pleasing, if your aesthetic were immortal monster drunk on blood. And unfortunately, that wasn't Tango's aesthetic, nor does he have one in general, which was probably why he doesn't like this scenery that much...or, at all.

One eye scanning the town square, attention focused solely on finding the black strings of the ghost. Alas, all that surrounded him were inanimate objects with their grey threads. 

_"So we need to do it when nobody is there to notice," Tango said,"Essentially, I can see the ghost. You will be hiding somewhere whilst I find it somehow."_

_"Uhuh."_

_"When I see it, I'll call you or something point to it, then you just need to follow my finger and do your magic, whatever that is."_

_"It's not magic," Impulse protested._

_"Sure," Tango rolled his eyes._

It felt awkward, just standing there in the open like a prize. Tango sat down by the fountain side and pretended to look at the water. Maybe it wouldn't appear if it thought he was looking for it.

_"Then what part do you need my help for?" Impulse tilted his head._

_"Well, I can't just look around the whole town for it," Tango sighed, "That would take forever, but I'm not sure any other way..."_

_"...Oh."_

_They sat in awkward silence for a while, until Impulse perked up, clapping his hands together in excitement, "Oh!"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"How about we just use you as bait?"_

There was a 50/50 chance that it will show up, depending on if Impulse's theory was right or not.

It does make sense.

Tango hated it.

He glanced down at the water, barely missing the black threads lurking nearby.

_"It returned to you for some reason," Impulse argued, "I'm telling you, I'm pretty sure it wants your other eye as well."_

_"But why?"_

_"Well, you can see crazy string stuff, maybe that got something to do with it."_

He didn't see it until it was too late.

Tango fell to the ground suddenly, grunting as he came down.

Welp, so much for the plan.

His vision was filled with blackened string, the same as what he remembered from last time. Tango yelled, "Hey, Impulse, would be a great time to do something!"

Impulse jumped out from a nearby bush and charged toward the ghost, "On top of you?"

"On top of me, yes!" Tango screamed, " _That_ sounded so wrong!"

Unfortunately, his moment of distraction gave an opening to the ghost. It raised its hand and reached for his eyes.

_"That's the plan then?"_

_Tango shrugged, "Got any better idea? I'm free to suggestions."_

_"Nah," Impulse coughed, "Just saying though, I'm still 50% sure you're crazy."_

_"You're not doing it then?"_

_"Hey, I never said that."_

_"Good," Tango yawned, "Tango and Impulse's 3 Steps Ghostification Plan is a go then."_

Tango swore he felt it, the cold, stingy touch. Instinctively, he closed his right eye. Which was why he completely missed the ghost disappearing. 

He did, however, hear a strange incarnation followed by a series of jingles sounding like metal rings hitting each other. That was definitely Impulse's k'rik staff.

Tango opened his right eye. The ghost was gone and all that was left was a pile of ash. Impulse scooped up some of it and dumped them into a Ziploc bag.

Tango made a face.

"You alright, dude?" The exorcist ran to him.

"Yeah..." Tango took a deep breath, "You got it?"

"Sure did, bud," Impulse gestured to the ash.

"That was fast."

Impulse smiled, "Yeah, right? Good job, by the way. I'm now officially convince that you're not just insane."

Tango groaned, "I wish I could say the same for myself."

Impulse nodded. He opened his bag and stuffed the dust-filled Ziploc in and Tango was just about to ask what that was until he remembered something important.

"Wait, what about my eye?" Tango glanced up at Impulse, "Did you see it somewhere?"

"...No," Impulse grabbed the Ziploc bag and shook it around, "Check the pile."

Tango practically ran for it. Ash smothered every which place as he tried desperately to find something. Anything.

Nothing. He came up with nothing.

"It was the right ghost, right?" Impulse asked.

"The strings were black," Tango, hands covered in black soot, glanced up, "And it tried to grab my right eye...it-it was the same one. I’m sure of it.”

"Ah..." Impulse winced, "Tang-“

"Must have lost it somewhere," Tango laughed. He laughed like he had never laughed before. Hysterical laughter of disbelief, "It's not there. My eye, it's not there. It's not th-"

"Tango?" 

The one eyed man whirled around to see Impulse looking at him carefully. The exorcist crouched down and took Tango's dirty hands into his own.

"Let's go home."

"Home? But..." Tango heard his voice faded into a whimper. "...Yeah... _Yeah_...let's”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone want to guess who, Mr. K'rik is, feel free to. I would like to hear it.


	5. Chapter 5

The air was chill and Tango snuggled deeper into the blanket. It was still dark outside, at least from what he could see.

He reached for his left eye and felt the tight cloth wrapped around it.

Oh, right.

He remembered now.

Tango sat up and glanced around, momentarily confused of where he was before he noticed a figure walking out of his kitchen.

"You're awake."

Tango blinked, "...Why are you still here?"

"Well," Impulse sat down on the arm of the couch, "When we got back last night, you just kinda collapsed on the couch. I decided that it would not be a good idea to leave you alone."

"Oh," Tango looked down at the blanket.

He definitely doesn't remember it being there when he blacked out.

Impulse pulled out his phone, "Right now, it's 6 in the morning, you should probably get back to sl-"

"No."

"Huh?

Tango shoved the blanket aside, "I've got class in 1 hour."

"You're seriously thinking about going to class?" Impulse eyed him, "After last night?"

"...Yes, why?"

Impulse continued to stared at him like he was stupid, "I mean...I can't really stop you, so do whatever you want, I guess. Be careful."

"Uhuh.

His eyelids felt heavy as he was brushing his teeth, probably the result of getting less than 5 hours of sleep. He would have to get a cup of coffee later.

He felt a little better after splashing his face with water.

There was no sign of Impulse as he walked out of the washroom. He checked the whole house twice and even called out for him by that stupid nickname, "Mr. K'rik!"

But no, the exorcist was gone. Tango was definitely not hurt.

He got dressed and packed up for class. All his notes were still in his new bag, a red and yellow backpack he had brought after the Church incident, which felt like ages ago.

He scanned the house one last time for Impulse, but it seemed like he had left without saying goodbye. No sign. No note. It was like nothing had ever happened.

"Well then," Tango sighed as he opened the door, keys in hand, "Fuck you too."

He didn't look back as he walked away from the closed door.

\------------------

Class went by as usual. Professor Docm goes over the basis of drawing blueprints. He seemed more chipper than usual. Now and then, he would look at Tango with a twinkle in his eye.

Probably looking forward to the food this weekend. Tango couldn't help but smile back slightly. He was planning to make ramen, but maybe he could fit some German recipes in the meal as well.

After class, he went to grab something to eat. Like sandwiches. And thirty cups of coffee. 

Hey, he deserved a treat too, after last night.

He paid for the coffee and sandwiches, then went straight home. Maybe he could spend the day watching cheesy romcom on Netflix.

Tango opened the door to a sight he didn't expect. Impulse, sitting on his couch, watching TV.

The absolute jer-

"You're back," He said instead, "How did you get in?"

"Through the window," came the prompt reply. Tango made a mental note to install some security system to his house. Impulse stood up, "Is that coffee?"

Tango glanced down at the four cups of coffee he had in a plate, then back up at Impulse.

...Maybe he could spare to lose one.

Impulse beamed as Tango offered him a coffee cup. After taking a long gulp, he sat down on the couch again, "Yeah, I'm back. Think you could get rid of me that easily?"

"You're the one who left without saying anything," Tango retorted.

"Oh..." Impulse scratched his head sheepishly, "Sorry about that then. Your fridge was kinda empty, so I went out and got some groceries."

Tango, hearing that, went right to his refrigerator and checked it. It was filled to the brim with food and Impulse had probably bought all of it with his money, "...Thank you. You didn't have to-"

"Nah, think of it as an apology for the deal," Impulse shrugged, "You didn't get anything. I managed to get a ghost and earn some money out of it, so..."

"I didn't know exorcists earn money," Tango murmured as he peeled a clementine.

"Well, it's like a business," Impulse explained, "We hear rumours, often from other exorcists. And then we investigate to see if it's true. If it it is, we just do our work and get paid when we're done."

"That sounds..." Tango said, "Really complicated. I wish I hadn’t heard that."

Impulse chuckled, "That's what the ash is for. Ghosts left them behind once they got exorcised and it essentially acted as proof of what we did. If we bring them to a wandering trader, then we get money out of it."

Tango raised an eyebrow, "So like mercenaries."

"Think what you want," Impulse glared, "We do good for this world."

"Yes, yes," Tango rolled his eye, "Of course you do. Want some eggs?"

"Wh-"

"Eggs."

"Oh," As if on cue, Impulse's stomach growled, "Sure."

Tango hummed as he tied the apron string around his bag.

"Do you need any help?" Impulse asked.

"No, you're a guest. I'll cook."

"A guest..." Impulse paused, "About that."

"Hm?"

"I think I'm gonna stay in this town."

Tango cracked the eggs into a mixing bowl, "I didn't know you were planning to leave."

"Generally, I can get more jobs travelling."

"What changed?"

"Well..." Impulse scratched his head sheepishly, "You won't like the sound of this, but it kinda because of you."

"You're right. I hate it."

"Yeah, yeah," Impulse waved the comment off casually, "But remember how I said I can't just randomly see ghosts on the street? Other than that, supernatural often have some kind of disguise. Now, with your stringy eye thingy..."

"You want me to be some kind of watchdog?" Tango stopped in his tracks, "No, absolutely not."

"Loo-"

"Absolutely. _Not_!"

"You still haven't found your eye, right?"

Tango stared at him, deadpanned.

"Okay, stupid question!" Impulse said, "But think about it this way. You help me, I’ll help you. If ever the eye is found while I’m ghost hunting, you can have it and I’ll leave you alone forever. How does that sound?”

"Are you...bribing me?l

"Think of it like a deal."

"Our last deal went horrible."

"But it wasn't _my_ fault."

"Tch..." Tango let out a string of colourful words, "...I can't believe I'm making a deal with an exorcist."

"Not the worst thing you could make a deal with."

"You don't understand," Tango glared, "8 years I have been trying to avoid getting involved in this world."

"Yes, I kn-"

" _8 years_!" Tango yelled, "You can't possibly think I would just... _Goddammit!_ "

"When you have your eye back, you can go on with normal life," Impulse reminded him, "And if you have somebody to help you-"

"It would be easier, yes! It would be...But...I..." Tango sighed, "...Fine... _Fine_...I accept, alright? Are you happy now? I'll help you."

"It wasn't about me being happ-"

"Shut up, alright? Just, please, _shut up_ ," Tango turned to the stove, his back to the exorcist sitting on the couch. He turned the stove knob and watched as the flame flickered to light, before turning to the bowl of eggs.

Impulse watched him angrily scrambling the egg yolks for a few moments, "Maybe this isn't the best of time to say this..."

There was no indication that Tango had noticed him talking, but Impulse continued nevertheless, "So I have been staying at a hotel here, but if I wanted to live, at least for a while, that won't be ideal."

"There's plenty of apartment complex across the street," Tango said, "Even more near the town squa-"

"You know what I meant."

Tango looked at the exorcist and Impulse couldn't help but jump at the anger in his eyes. Still, he continued, "You have that room you use for just storage. It's small, but I could manage. Living here would be much easier for work. This is a great location. Lots of people. There are going to be spirits hanging around her-.

"Shut the fuck up,” said Tango. Impulse fell into silence, "...Sorry, but please. I am still processing this. J-Just give me a moment, alright"

"...If you really don't want to, I can rent some other place," Impulse quickly suggested, "I'm sure there's plenty around the town square. Maybe even some right across the street."

Tango didn't reply, and they lapsed into silence, with only the fizzling sound of cooking omelet to fill in between. A few minutes later, Tango set the table for them both to eat. 

Impulse poked at his egg, not very sure what to do. Usually, when somebody makes you some food, you're allowed to eat them. But then again, most of the time, people weren’t eating with somebody who hated their ass. 

Nevertheless, Impulse took a small bite of the omelet.

It was delicious. Of course, making omelets wasn't that hard, but... Impulse doesn't know how to describe the food using just words.

It just...felt right.

Impulse chuckled at such a silly thought. There was no way Tango was going to say yes to his proposal. He hadn't expected it. Not at all. It was simply a spur of the moment decision.

In his mind, he was already thinking of places where he could rent.

Tango cleaned up all the plates and wiped the table. With no food to distract them any longer, Impulse decided that it was time to take his luck and say bye for the day.

And so he started with truth, "The food was amazing."

"Thanks," Maybe he had imagined it, but Impulse swore he saw Tango smiled a bit.

"Well, thank _you_ for the food." Standing up from his seat, Impulse bowed slightly, "I think I'll take my leave."

Tango looked at him strangely, "Where are you going?" 

"I think I'm gonna start looking around for a place to rent. Maybe somewhere near so we ca-"

"You can stay here."

Impulse did a double take, "What?"

"I said, you can stay here," Tango glared at Impulse, who was gaping in surprise, "Say yes, before I change my mind."

"Yea-I mean... _Yes_!" Impulse smiled, "You're really letting me stay here?"

"Don't celebrate just yet," Tango began, "You're paying half of the rent, you're going to help me clean the flat and do laundry every other Friday, and also," he pointed to the sink, "You clean all the dishes."

"That's it?" Impulse practically beamed despite the things he had just heard, "I thought you're going to make me sacrifice a goat to you every week or something."

" _What_?"

"It's nothing," Impulse laughed, already making his way to the sink.

Tango rolled his eyes, "Once you're done with that, help me clean out the storage room. Hopefully we'll get it done before dinner starts."

"Uhuh," Impulse turned on the tap water, "I'll clean up the dishes after that as well."

"Oh, that’s good. You're learning already," Tango said.

“Should I be scared?” Impulse eyed him nervously, “...Please refrain from making me your slave.”

Tango simply smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, rushed writing, my old friend.
> 
> ...Ack...I'm so sorry for anybody who have to endure this.


	6. End of Part 1

The elevator door slid open and Doc hurriedly made his way to room 004. He would have taken the stairs if he had known how late he would be. 

Which was _very_ late. “Tango straight up murdering him” kind of late. Alas, Ren and his lot were getting into even more troubles, now that they had a new member. He would have to ask about that later, but for now...

The smell of food made his mouth watered. Even in the hallway, he could already taste it in the air. Knowing his student however, he would probably be chewed out first before a single bite was taken. Still, his stomach growled as Doc knocked on the door.

There was some shuffling inside. Some running. Then, finally, the entrance clicked open. 

Now, Doc wasn't expecting _anything_ to beout of the ordinary, but if he had...

Well, he still wouldn't have expected _this_. His mouth widened, a curse at the tip of his tongue. The young man who had greeted him seemed surprised as well. They stared at each other, still, both in complete shock.

Suddenly, in the midst of their unintentional staring contest, young man narrowed his eyes and demanded, "What are you-"

"Oi, show up, did ya?" From inside the flat, a voice rang out. Tango poked his head around the corner, staring at them in annoyance, “Hurry in then! The food is getting cold."

To Doc's surprise, the young man, who had previously been trying to kill him with figurative eye lasers, turned around and smiled quite pleasantly, "We're coming!"

Tango nodded and disappeared, probably back to the kitchen. The young man, still hesitant, gestured for Doc to go inside.

The tables were already set when they arrived. Doc stared hungrily at the biggest bowl of ramen on the table, which will hopefully be his. But before he could sit himself, Tango reminded him to go wash his hands. 

"...And why were you so late?" His student grumbled, "That's 20 minutes we waited. We were just about to eat by ourselves."

"Sorry about that. One of my colleagues needed some help."

Tango hummed, seemingly satisfied with the answer. Maybe he wouldn’t get stabbed by a knife after all. Doc wiped his hands on a towel before adjusting his top hat. He wouldn't want it to fall off, especially now. He sat down at the table and picked up the metal chopstick. True to what Tango had said, the noodles were indeed a bit cooled. Not that Doc minded, it was still delicious all the same. He expected nothing less. 

But despite the fact that the food was amazing and talking to Tango about his various metal goat statues project was pleasant, Doc couldn't fully enjoy himself. 

And it may or may not be because of the mysterious young man glaring holes into his body.

Doc coughed, interrupting Tango as he was giving an entire speech on how much of a pain musical functions for a bed were to make (their conversation might have derailed), "Tango, may I be introduced to your new friend?"

His student blinked owlishly, mind probably still stuck on beds. Nevertheless, he still replied, gesturing between them vaguely while he do, "Oh, that's Impulse. He's my new roommate. And Impulse, this is my professor, Docm."

"Just Doc here is fine."

"Just Doc then."

Impulse nodded at him, "It's nice to meet you."

"You too," Doc turned to Tango. “And _you_. Why didn’t you tell me?

Tango shrugged, scratching the back of his neck apologetically, "It kinda happened so quickly. He just moved in on Thursday."

"And your landlords?"

"They're fine. We have to fill out some extra paperwork but that’s about it.”

"Oh..." Doc stared at the new addition.

Impulse was going to be living here, at least for a while. Doc didn't know how to feel about that.

So he just watched as Tango cleaned up the table and called for Impulse, "Can you wash these? I'm gonna go take a shower."

Impulse flashed him a thumb up.

"And don't break anything this time."

"That was just one plate!" Impulse yelled at the closed washroom door. A muffled "uhuh" could be heard inside, before the sound of the shower faucet was turned on.

It was really loud. Doc wondered if it was loud enough for Tango to not hear the fight that was probably about to break out. 

He settled the tea cup down calmly. More calmly than how he actually felt. The professor then “calmly” looked at Impulse, who was still silently cleaning up the dishes, "Exorcist."

Impulse nodded, "Correct."

"What are you doing here?" Doc demanded, "What do you want with him?"

"That's none of your business."

"If you're going to hurt him..."

"Again," Impulse turned off the sink water and turned toward the demon, "It's not any of your business."

"Tango is my student," Doc growled, "And a dear friend. I'm not about to let an _exorcist_ near him."

"Apprentice. Apprentice exorcist," Impulse corrected, "And what do you have against us anyway?"

“What?” Doc asked, incredulous, " _Everything_! You human goes around poking your head in our wo-"

"You're a supernatural?"

"You must be a bad exorcist if you just figured that out," Said Doc.

"That's why I'm an _apprentice_ ," Impulse lifted his head, "What are you hiding under that hat then, if you’re a supernatural. Please indulge my ignorant human brain.”

Doc slowly reached for his top hat and took it off. It felt awkward, like he was stripping naked in front of somebody.

Impulse stared at the goat horn, "A demon. So I suspect."

"Yes, I'm sure you have ‘ _suspect_ ’," Doc hissed, "Exorcist and their meddling."

“Oh yeah? How many people have you killed so far?”

Doc narrowed his eyes and spitted out, “One accident. And I won’t let there be another.”

“One is one too many,” said Impulse, his face a mask of stony cold.

“You know, I might just make an exception in my no killing rules for you.”

Tension cut through the air, only to be interrupted by the sudden stop of the faucet inside the bathroom, accompanied by a muffled, "Impulse! Where the hell is the towel?"

"In the cupboard beside the sink!" The exorcist yelled back before turning back to the man in front of him, quietly hissing, "I don't know what Tango is thinking, hanging out with a demon-"

Doc growled.

"-But I think we should all just calm down," Impulse said, "And talk this through like reasonable men...and others."

"Men? reasonable?" Doc couldn’t help but laugh,"Say who? _You?"_

"Do you really want to fight here? In his house?" Impulse asked, "Does Tango even know?"

Doc paused, before reluctantly shaking his head.

"Then we'll have to figure that out too."

"What is there to figure out?" 

Impulse sighed, "You really don't know him that well, do you? He knows."

"Not about me-"

"Not about _you_ personally," Impulse gestured around impatiently, "But about... _this_. This world or...whatever."

"...How?" Doc asked.

"I don’t know, he wouldn't tell me," Impulse lowered his voice, "But if there is one thing I’m sure about, it’s that he would probably cut ties with both you and me if he finds out about your...situation.”

Doc glanced at the exorcist suspiciously, "And how exactly did you come to that conclusion?”

"For a friend, you really know nothing about him,” Impulse scowled, “He was forced to get involved, and he wasn’t too pleased about it the last time I checked. And he would probably be even _less_ please if we destroy his house in a fight, so just-”

"You really think you could fight _me?"_ Doc asked, incredulous, "I could take you down in a second."

"Don't get too cocky, demon," The exorcist glared vehemently, "I have seen things much more powerful destroyed."

"You helped a lot, I'm sure,” Doc mocked, “What? Did you fetch water for your master while he was busy killing my brethren?”

"Don't underestimate me. It will be your downfall," Impulse reached for a knife in the sink.

The washroom lock clicked open

Impulse forgone the knife. Whispering, he waved frantically at Doc, "...What did I just tell you about fighting? Goddammit, _not_ here! Quick, cover that up!"

Doc watched at the door as it started opening. Hurriedly, he reached out and grabbed his hat-

"Don't bother," A tired voice said. Tango, hair still dripping wet, stepped out of the washroom. Impulse stared at him, eyes laced with guilt and worry, “I heard.”

Doc just sat there, stunned.

Tango glanced between the two. His teacher just sitting still and his roomate opening and closing his mouth like a fish, probably trying to think up some kind of excuse.

He just ended up looking away guiltily.

Tango watched as Impulse slowly turned his head away, and started laughing. Pure, uncontrollable laughter rang in awkward contrast to the other two's silence, and they watched as he went on and on until Tango was doubling over his stomach, still laughing in between fits of cough. And it sounded so forced, so wrong, that Impulse couldn't help but opening his mouth to ask if Tango was okay.

But before he could say anything, Tango finally stopped. He glanced at Doc, still sitting at the table, completely unmoving.

"It's good to know that I'm not the only one with a secret," Tango said, a bitter smile on his face "You look strange without your hat on...professor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time, on no-description-just-dialogues, we are presenting to you...
> 
> Drama! And conflict. How fun...


	7. Chapter 7

Impulse opened the door into a darkened room. The window was closed. Clothes littered messily on the floor along with pencils and other kinds of miscellaneous. On the bed in the corner, he could see a bundle of blankets moving ever so slowly.  
  
"Go away," the bundle said.  
  
"You can't spend all summer huddled up," Impulse sighed.  
  
"Go the fuck away," the bundle repeated.  
  
"I'm going, yes," Impulse nodded, "To pick up some salt for the wards. But when I return, you better be dressed."  
  
"Salt? Again?" Grumbled the voice, "And why should I be dressed?"  
  
"We have groceries to buy," Impulse paused, "And just in case, you know? Some ghosts floating around?”  
  
"...I'll be dressed," the blanket shifted slightly, "Just...can you give me some time?"  
  
"Until I get back."  
  
"Yeah, yeah," There was a crack in his voice, "Bye."  
  
Impulse nodded, though he doubted Tango had seen it.  
  
He shut the door, being careful not to disturb the other. He had expected Tango to explode when he found out about his teacher, but somehow, mopey Tango was even worse. At least angry Tango would talk to him.   
  
With mopey Tango, he doesn't know _what_ he needs to do. Would Tango be happier with his demon teacher exorcised? If so, Impulse would have done it in a heartbeat. BAM, BAM. Problem solved. They go back to normal. Well, as normal as they can be.  
  
But Impulse was pretty sure that wasn't what Tango wanted.   
  
_I_ _don't have the energy to think about that now_ , he grumbled in his head.   
  
No use overthinking things, he just had to move forward. Impulse pocketed his wallet and snatched the keys off the wall. He put his shoes on and hid an extendable staff inside his pocket. It wouldn't be as useful as his pewter staff, but it will do.  
  
Lastly, he turned back inside and yelled, "I'm going! Bye!"  
  
No answer. Impulse wasn't expecting any.  
  
He shut off all the light and opened the front door. The warm light of the hallway flooded in as Impulse stepped outside, key in hand.   
  
A jingle of keys that wasn't his own rang out, followed by the smell of freshly cutted grass, and Impulse blinked in surprise. For the first time in the 2 months he had been living here, he wasn't in the hallway alone.  
  
"Oh, hello," his neighbour smiled, struggling to lock his own door, "You're the new guy that moved in, right?"  
  
Impulse hesitated, "Uh...yeah?"  
  
"Cool," the neighbour smiled, "I've never talked to your roommate before, he's so scary all the time. It's refreshing to finally have some nice hall mates."  
  
Impulse winced, debating whether or not he should be defending his partner.   
  
_Might be too awkward_ , the reasonable part of his brain said.  
  
It made sense, just liked everything that came out of that side of his brain. Alas, Impulse had never listened to it, "He's okay once you get to know him," he paused, before adding, "His food is really good."  
  
"I would bet," the neighbor laughed, "Every time I went out here, there's always a delicious smell. Mind you, if the guy wasn't so unfriendly, I would have come over and asked for some food."  
  
"If you want some, you could just ask," Impulse said, "I'm sure he would gladly give you some. If he doesn't, I'll make him."  
  
"Looking forward to it," the other smiled brightly, "Say, my new and improved neighbour, what's your name?"  
  
Impulse hesitated. On one hand, the guy seemed nice enough, he doubted there was any possessed business involved here. On the other hand, giving your name was usually frowned upon among exorcists.  
  
But he wasn't dealing with any supernatural, as far as he can see. Nor was the other guy an exorcist, he would have heard. So sucking up all of his courage, Impulse gave the neighbour his name.  
  
He expected something to explode, or at least some kind of magic circle sealing his fate. But the neighbour just grinned at him, "Nice! Mine is Zedaph, or as I prefer it, Zed. I guess we both have weird names."  
  
Impulse wasn't sure if he should be insulted or not. He settled for just awkwardly scratching his head.  
  
"Well, it's very much a pleasure to have met you," Zedaph said, his voice bright and excited, "I'm late for class, so I might have to run now, but it's okay! See you later!"  
  
With that, the chipper man dashed down the emergency exit in a hurry, leaving Impulse standing there, alone.  
  
Impulse rubbed his eyes, still not knowing how somebody can be so happy this early in the morning. It was strange to feel something other than the quiet calm of his and Tango's house, neither of them very talkative.   
  
And while he doesn't mind that...it was good to feel positive once in a while.  
  
With renewed energy, Impulse checked his wallet for money before setting out for his salt.  
  
\------------------  
  
The moment he heard the door closing, Tango threw off the blanket and opened his eyes. The grey strings of still objects surrounded him. In the corner, a wisp of white threads dashed off, disappearing into the wall. He should probably get an exterminator.  
  
Tango got off the bed and opened the door into the living room. He turned on the light. It blinked, like always, then settled into a dim orange glow.   
  
Just like always.  
  
He should probably get dressed. Who knows when Impulse would be back. It could be in 5 minutes. It might be 5 hours.  
  
Maybe he should just stay home.  
  
Tango tip toed his way to the couch and collapsed on to it. His stomach growled, and he suddenly remembered that he hadn't eaten since last night. What time even was it?  
  
The clock on the wall read 12, sunlight seeped through the cracks of the curtain, sending spray of light yellow threads into the room. Tango pinched his forearm until they turned red.  
  
Nothing happened. They were still there. Of course, they were.  
  
Of all the things he had expected, opening that washroom door, it wasn't his teacher with goat horns. 

He hadn't been expecting to have Impulse yelling at him to run. Hadn't expected to have watched them arguing. To see his teacher threaten to shove somebody down a river and eat them inside out, though that was a sight to see.

Most of all, he hadn't expected to have to tell off _Doc_ , of all people.

Or, if you want to be specific, he had told his professor to "Get the fuck out and never return."

Yeah, that went real smooth.

He knew that Impulse felt guilty for what happened. He wanted to believe that too, to push the blame on to the exorcist. 

But _he_ was the one who had brought them together. He had agreed to let Impulse stay.

Ugh.

Tango wanted to laugh at where he found himself. Roommate with an exorcist. Student of a literal demon. What a joke.

His eye wandered to the clock on the wall. It had been 10 minutes he had been laying here. He didn't know how long until Impulse returned. Maybe he should be getting dressed.

His stomach growled.

And make a sandwich as well.

So after putting on a shirt and some jeans, he went into the kitchen. After brewing a cup of coffee, he settled down on the couch, cup in one hand and a ham and cheese sandwich in another.

The coffee tasted great, the ham and cheese less so. Tango turned on the TV.

Sound echoed through the empty apartment. The TV host announced a new science discovery. Some people were murdered. Secret vigilantes, typical news. Tango could be careless, he just needed something to distract him.

But it doesn't. Tango munched on his sandwich as scenes and scenes of the same people talking flashed by, his mind always wandering back to the same thing.

There was a solution to it, he knew. There was absolutely one, just not one he could trust he wouldn't regret. It was something he had been thinking of ever since summer break began. There was a new course opened in college this year for computer engineering, and while he doesn't particularly like computer engineering that much...It could still work.

At least then, he wouldn't have to see Doc every morning.

Tango sighed. 

He'd already checked the sign up sheet _and_ filed out all his information. There was only one thing left to do and that was to request it. Just one click, and he would probably never see his teacher again.

But what if?

What if? What if they can mend this? What if they reconciled, and Tango came to regret his decision? Heck, he was only one year away from getting his degree, was this really worth it?

Maybe.

He had only had 2 more days until the request list closed. 

And only 1 month before class started again.  
  
Tango found himself getting up and heading toward his computer. Accidentally, dropped his dish onto the floor. Thankfully, it doesn't break, and Tango let it be. 

The computer booted up and Tango clicked on the sign up website. His information had been saved. 

The only thing left to do was to click that darn requested button. As though hearing that, the button flashes green, tempting him.

Tango sighed.

He felt the tension leave his body as he clicked and was taken to a list of names, his included. 

Well, that was it, wasn't it? He'd got what he wanted.

Tango read the course information page. His professor turned out to be somebody named Etho. And Tango did a little dance in his head (a tango if you will) to celebrate the fact that he didn't know who the heck they were. Hopefully this one doesn't turn out to be some kind of time travelling ninja with a pension for llamas. 

He got off the computer and nearly fell trying to put it back into his room as he tripped over the dish he had dropped. So he did the responsible thing and put _both_ of those things back. 

And also drink the rest of his coffee.

It made him feel a lot better, as it should. When had coffee ever failed him before? _Never_. Not even once.

Well, one half of his summer had been officially wasted because of his sulking. Guess it was time to get back on his feet and move on. 

He still missed Doc, and yes, he did regret saying the things he did.

But that was all in the past now.

Right?

The doorbell rang as Tango was cleaning up. He dried the last of the dishes before going out to open the door, where he was met with a very flustered and disheveled-looking Impulse.

"You don't want to ask," the exorcist said, "Turns out walking by a graveyard while carrying salt wasn't a good idea. Are you ready?"

"Yeah," Tango snickered, feeling the last bit of worries leaving his body as he reached up and brushed a single dead leaf off the exorcist's hair, "I'm ready. Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's an art challenge (that probably nobody will do), I'm having a hard time visualizing the story and characters and all that stuff, and it would really help if there's a physical art aiding me in that endeavour. So just draw whatever scene or character you want. 
> 
> Then just comment on how to find it, cause goodness knows I'll never be able to do it on my own.
> 
> Again, this will probably get me zero result, but if you have some free time or just feel bored or something, you can give it a try.


	8. Chapter 8

“Impulse, I need more!”

“We shouldn't-”

“I need them!”

“But-”

“Impulse!” Tango whined.

Impulse glanced down at the shopping cart, “We already have 9 containers? How much coffee do you _drink_?”

His companion pouted, still stubbornly holding on to another container, “You can say that when you’re not having 10 cups every morning.”

“...Do I really drink that much?”

“Sorry to break it to you, but yes.”

“Oh,” said Impulse, “... _Fine_. 10 containers of coffee, but no more.”

He rolled the shopping cart off, forcing Tango to follow behind him; though he could clearly see that the other was still eyeing the coffee aisle.

It was strange to see him so animated after 2 months of practically nothing. Impulse wondered what happened in the 2 hours it took him to get salt then went back home. Was Tango okay? Had he been possessed? Or had he just fixed things with his demon goat friend/teacher? Those were all questions Impulse wanted answers to. Specifically, the last one. So Impulse, never being one for subtlety, decided to just heck it and ask away.

“Hey, Tango?” He opened up with.

“Hm?”

“Did you...uh...work things out with….?” He suddenly paused. Tip No. 23 from his master exorcist was that mentioning anything even remotely related to demonkind might summon them. Impulse would rather avoid that, seeing that they were standing right in the middle of a supermarket.

And maybe he doesn’t want to admit it, but some of the threats Tango’s professor had made sounded...well, it sounded terrifying, especially the “stuffing him under a bridge then eating him inside out” one. Yeah, yikes, no thank you.

On the other hand, Tango didn’t seem to know nor cared, “Oh, Doc? We haven’t talked at all. But that’s alright.”

“It...is?”

“Yep!” Tango grinned, “I mean...I’m not taking his course anymore, so we’ll probably never meet again...but it’s fine!”

Impulse glanced at him worriedly, not helped by the fact that Tango was twitching about like he was having some kind of seizure next to him, “Okay, but aren’t you like...one year away from graduating?”

“Yeah…” Tango paused and, if only for a moment, the walls broke down. Impulse watched as his companion lowered his head and glanced away, not meeting his eyes. He looked sad or…

Scrap that, Tango didn’t look sad. He seemed...lost. Like a little boy not knowing what to do. Impulse could relate.

He didn’t have the time to congratulate himself on such astute observation before it was gone, and Tango went back to complaining about their coffee amount. So fast was the change, Impulse had to wonder if he had imagined it.

“Come on,” Tango called after the exorcist, “Let’s go pay.”

Impulse jolted out of his thought and nodded.

They made it up to the front of the line and while Tango went up to the cashier to pay, Impulse was stacking up the item onto the wheelie thingy. The exorcist had just finished putting out all the egg containers when he perhaps heard the most terrifying thing ever.

In front of him was Tango laughing with the cashier about something they had just said. There was no way. Tango _never_ interacted with people. Especially not strangers he just met. Impulse couldn’t help reaching inside his pocket and checking the extendable staff he had. If only he had known, then he would have brought his khakkhara. If indeed that Tango got an unwanted visitor inside his body, things could very well get messy.

They walked out of the doors, paper bags in hands and Impulse still side-eyeing his companion.

“You can stop looking at me like that now, thank you,” Tango turned to him.

“Looking at you like what…” Impulse winced at the other’s unamused expression, “Alright, it’s just…”

“It’s fine,” Sighed Tango. He shuffled through the paper bags before coming up with the receipt and handing it to Impulse, “Here?”

“Hm?” The exorcist scanned over the piece of paper, “...You paid for everything? Did you forget to split our bill?”

“No,” Tango said, “Think of it as...sorry. For how I’ve been acting.”

“You don’t have t-”

“Oh please,” Scowling at him, the one-eyed man pursed his lips, “I know I had been a real piece of shit. So sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“Also,” Tango smirked, “You might not have wanted to pay for some of the items on that list.”

Impulse glanced down at the paper again and started counting, “You mean the 13 boxes of coffee you brought?”

Tango burst out laughing, “You didn’t even notice me sneaking them in there.”

Impulse nodded dumbly, not knowing what to think. This was good, right? Things were getting better. They can move on. So why does it feel so wrong?

Why?

Impulse found himself not being able to answer that question.

The sky had begun to bleed orange as they walked through the usual empty street of town. Red light turned green, they crossed the roads. A lone car raced past as soon as they made it to the other side. Right then, Impulse couldn’t help but think back to the first time they had chased that ghost together. It was at the same time, roughly the same looking roads. That evening where Tango almost got bonked by a car. If he hadn’t saved the other man in time, where would they both be now?

Even with that morbid question, Impulse still couldn’t help but smile at the memory. He opened his mouth, and was on the edge of saying something about “this is where we first met for real” and all those mushy, tooth-rotting stuff that he knew Tango (or at least the normal Tango, he doesn’t know anything with this new, emotional one) would hate.

But before he could say a single word, they heard a scream.

The two men jumped, looking around for the source of the sound. It didn't take long, for another scream rang out right after, this time much more distinguishable.

"Cleo! No, please-...It's me!"

Without a moment of thought, Impulse took off toward the sound, leaving his roommate to chase after him.

"What the hell do you think you’re doing?" screamed Tango, who seemed to have reverted back to his old self momentarily, "Why are we running _toward_ the screaming?"

"Somebody might be getting hurt!"

"What does that have to do with us?"

Impulse ignored him.

It didn't take them long to get to the source, helped by the mostly linear roads. Impulse stopped at an alleyway where he assumed the voices were coming from and peered inside.

He had expected some kind of gang fight, like those things you see in action movies. But in the shrouded shadow of the alley, the only thing he could make it was a single person, pinned against the wall. They were trying desperately fighting off...something.

Impulse squinted his eyes, but he couldn't make out anything at all. It must be then...

Tango ran up after him, breathing heavily, "Fuck you and your hero complex! I'm going to put so much wasabi into your rice tonig-"

Impulse interrupted him, "What do you see? Is there anything there?"

"Calm down," Looking up, Tango paused for a moment, before saying, "Actually, don't. There's definitely something there. But you don't have your k'rik-"

Impulse didn't stay to hear the rest. Charging forward, he extended the staff he had in his pocket and let out a bloody cry, which honestly wasn't that bloody (he tried).

The metal staff didn't feel right in his hands, unlike his khakkhara. Dammit, he _knew_ he should have brought the thing. Knew it! Nevertheless, he still raised the lesser staff and swung it ahead of him.

Things would have been so much simpler if he had just been able to hit it.

Impulse felt a chill running past him. Behind him, Tango yelped and dodged out of the way, "Impulse, you idiot! Maybe don't _yell_ while sneak attacking!"

 _It works in movies_ , he wanted to say, but, deciding that maybe ghost hunting should be prioritized before his pride, Impulse instead asked, "Where did it go?"

Tango pointed ahead of him and together, they ran after the spirit. Impulse got ahead, relying on Tango's direction to help him.

"Right in front," Tango yelled, "Actually, skip that! Sharp right!"

Changing his course, Impulse whirled the metal staff around, trying to ignore how wrong it felt in his hand. At least he had just had it blessed this morning, when he had to fight the ghoul. Impulse would give it a solid 60% chance of successfully exorcising this spirit.

Which turned out to be quite good odds. The staff came in contact with something and Impulse had just enough time to screamed out the banishing incantation before the ghost escaped. He saw a roughly humanoid figure burst into light, before collapsing into a pile of dust.

Tango caught up to him a moment later, "You got a new weapon?"

"A secondary weapon," Impulse corrected, "The pewter staff would have been better, but you can't really carry that around easily."

"...Huh."

"Is it there?" The exorcist asked as Tango went ahead of him to inspect the ash pile.

"...Nope!" Tango said, oddly cheerful in a way that doesn't seem genuine at all, "It's still not there..."

"...We'll find it," Impulse winced at his words, himself knowing how stupidly positive it sounded. So instead of going on with that matter, he changed the subject, "Can you get me the ash?"

Tango raised an eyebrow at him, "No, get it yourself."

 _But your hands are already dirty!_ Impulse opened his mouth to say.

But then he paused.

Here they were, with Tango suddenly back to normal. Good old grumpy Tango, not the creepy one in the supermarket. Whatever had changed him back, Impulse wanted to keep it that way.

Tango glanced at him carefully, before extending his hands and demanding, "Give me the bag."

"I'll do-"

"Oh please, spare me your pity" grumbled Tango, "I'm fine, _really_. Now give me the bag."

Impulse produced a ziploc bag from his pocket and handed it to his companion. After a few moments, Tango gave him back the bag, now filled with black ash.

"Thanks," Impulse said quietly.

Tango looked away.

"I have some good news?" Impulse offered.

"Shoot,” Tango sighed, “It’s better than nothing.”

"I'm pretty sure the rumours were about that ghost," Impulse explained, "We didn't have to search the whole town for it, isn't that better than last time?"

"It is."

"Then why do you look so serious?" Impulse asked worriedly.

Tango scowled, "...We left our groceries at the alleyway."

"We did?" Impulse widened his eyes, "Oh my gosh, we _did_."

"Yeah, so you better get going."

"Only me?"

Tango crossed his arms, "I wasn't the one running off because I have some kind of internal conflict that I needed to resolve by being a literal anime protagonist."

"Wow," said Impulse, "Ouch."

His roommate shrugged.

\-----------------

They found their groceries stacked neatly against the wall in the alley. That was also when Impulse suddenly remembered that someone was being attacked by the ghost when they came. They must have done this, who else? Bless them, whoever it was.

“Who do you think it was?” Impulse turned to Tango, who, on the other hand, seemed to have a different idea.

“...11...How should I know?” Tango shuffled through the groceries bags, “...12...All I saw was a bunch of purple strings and that’s it...Oh, that mothefu-”

“What happened?” Impulse hurriedly turned to the other, “Something dangerous? Where?”

“No! Not that!” Tango screamed at him, clawing at his hair, “They stole my coffee!

_Oh..._

Physically preventing himself from twitching his brows in frustration, Impulse took a deep breath and sighed for just as long. Beside him, Tango had practically dumped out all of their stuff and was throwing them around frantically.

"...Relax, they’re not good for you anyway," Impulse chuckled, "It's getting late, let's go home."

“But…”

“Oh come on, we can always buy more later.”

Tango mumbled something about his coffee, but still reluctantly cleaned up the mess and made his way out of the alleyway.

Impulse stared at his back as the man walked out. Of course, he was glad to see Tango back to normal again. That was always a good sign, right…?

They would have to talk later about what the heck happened at the supermarket, because _Impulse_ sure hadn’t gotten over that, thank you for asking. But for now...

The exorcist glanced toward the horizon, because it can never be bad to have that epic hero reaching a new beginning scene (all that was missing was a cliff, darn it). The sky above was still. The sun descended down below the hills in the distance as the warm hues of noon turned to the dark blue that was the early night sky. Stars floated peacefully up above, and the moon watched over them gently.

Despite that, Impulse still thought the sunset looked a little harsher that day. Or maybe it was just his romantic brain talking. That was probably it.

Tango called for him to hurry up, and Impulse abandoned that silly thought to run off after him.

Together, they made their way back home.

(“Look at you, glancing up at the sky like that,” Tango rolled his eyes as they walked, “Now you just need a long lost love interest to complete the aesthetic.")

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My get-away ticket of writing, "when in doubt, describe scenery", was fully in place here.


	9. Chapter 9

In the end, they didn’t talk about anything.

It was his fault, really. He should have pushed harder. Should have asked about it right away. But after the long day, his eyes had just given up on him the moment they went home. He ate, then went right to bed, promising Tango that he would wash the dishes tomorrow.

And...well, that was 4 hours ago, and his eyes _were_ giving up on him. Yet here was he, Impulse, laying in bed, and very much wide awake. He tried to go to sleep, counting sheep and all that nonsense. Nothing worked, and Impulse stopped after the 35th one jumped over the fences to be eaten by demons. The 36th one turned back midway, probably deciding that it was best to not jump to his death. Smart, though it didn’t really help his case, does it? 

The cold wind thumped against his windows, sending in sprays of rainwater. They trickled downward slowly, and Impulse looked away, not having enough patience to see them reach their goals. 

Also, it looked like the darkest out of hell outside, what was with the storm obscuring everything. Funny how he almost missed the usual nightly wolf howls, as weird as they were.

Impulse blinked, eyes still open, unfortunately. All this thinking wasn’t helping at all in sending him to a sleepy dreamland, and he debated whether or not to just wake up and work. There were plenty of things he hadn’t gotten the hang of quite yet. Like accounting. Or how to correctly kill high-level werewolves. They should be plenty useful, and at least he would have something to do.

And maybe he could even make a cup of coffee. 

Impulse waved away the thought just as quickly as they had come. Tango was probably asleep, and probably wouldn't appreciate being rudely woken in the middle of the night. Impulse didn’t like the idea of talking to a pissed Tango, especially not on the subject of how weird he was acting. Adding fuel to the flame they say. Sounded like a recipe for disaster if he ever heard of one.

No coffee then.

Impulse sighed, grabbing the laptop on the bedside counter. It opened, illuminating the dark room with a dim blue light. 

There was another wind. The windows shook.

Impulse grunted in annoyance and yanked out his curtain to cover it. He could still hear the sounds, of course. That wasn’t going away. But now he wouldn’t have to peer into what seemed like a hellish pit of darkness every time he looked outside. 

His eyes were hurting now due to the computer. But with his mind still active, Impulse logged in and opened up a document from his teacher.

Tap, tap, goes the computer as he typed, broken by the occasional click of the pad. Words scrolled by on the screen, and Impulse squinted his eyes even further to read them.

A thunder clapped.

He ignored them

Another attack from the wind made the counter shake the counter beside his bed.

He struggled to focus on working. And he did... for a while. Impulse would even argue that he got a _lot_ done that night. 

Impulse was lying to himself. 

For, much like the 36th sheep, it eventually got too much for the poor exorcist. As _another_ thunder clapped, and one more wind shook the Earth to its core, Impulse finally gave in, and walked away from the figurative fences that was his goal of getting things done that night. Though, he would still argue that he had finished all of his worksheets. And furthermore, he wasn't a sheep.

He could say whatever he wanted, however, but it didn’t change the fact that Impulse ended up exactly where he started, lying on his back in the dark, mind in absolute overdrive for whatever reason.

He just wanted to go to sleep, darn it. Why couldn’t he just pass into la la land like a drunken wizard in Wendy’s at midnight? He wanted to go into a coma, thank you very much. Drifting very gently into that good night, though hopefully not permanently. 

Impulse sighed. 

Welp, desperate times called for desperate measures, which was why the exorcist had just shoved in his earbuds and began chilling to a gentle ambiance of creepy Latin chanting.

His eyes drooped. Thanks the gods above. Go on, closed completely and shut down. Uhuh, just like that.

He didn’t even understand what the Latin was about. It could be reading to him a very detailed description of raids in medieval settings for all he cared. He was so tired. Had been since morning. It had truly been a long day. 

And yet it felt awfully short at the same time for whatever reason. He got attacked by ghouls. Bought his salt from two suspicious vendors. Then Tango started going wonky and then he exorcised a ghost.

...Weird. It had been weird. That was the only word he could think of in his sleepy mind. It had been weird, but hey, so had his entire life.

Yeah, that was right. His life had been freaking weird, which didn’t sound good at all. His lack of a stable life appalled him.

Yet oddly, Impulse found himself smiling before he finally drifted off. He blamed it on sleep deprivation.

\------------------------

Tango definitely wasn’t asleep.

He _was_ , an hour ago. But then the storm suddenly started, yanking him out of a peaceful sleep with its thunder and lightning and very loud pouring. So now he was huddling in a corner of his bed, blanket over his ears. It didn’t help much in terms of shielding him from the sounds though, which sounded like something banging against his windows. The rumbles of thunder, the slap of wind hitting the windows, the pouring rain. They mixed together into some kind of machine dedicated to blowing your eardrums out. 

Mother Nature could be a real bitch sometimes. 

And maybe he had just jinxed his luck, there could be an actual Mother Nature out there, and he had just insulted her. Whatever it was, the banging suddenly increased, and Tango clamped his hands even harder against his ears.

He wasn’t scared, thank you for asking. Nope, he wasn’t at all. Not even a little bit. 

The banging got even louder. The windows trembled at the force. It was almost like somebody was trying to get in, but it was probably just his imagination.

Tango pulled a blanket over his head and focused on its grey strings, intertwining together in an endless loop. Surprisingly, they actually helped him calm down, unlike usual. Glad to know that some things were constant in this world, and that was how fucking annoying those were. Just drifting around, it wasn’t like he could do anything with them. They were just there. Ugh...

The entire house shook as the banging increased in both volume and frequency. And he was probably hallucinating it, but Tango could even hear some yelling in between.

Or maybe he was onto a full on acid trip, because those bangs started sounding like they came from his front door.

...Alright, what the fuck? What the actual everloving f-

He shut his eyes before pulling off the blanket, acting braver than he actually felt. His room was a disaster, not helped by the lightning making it look like something straight out of Frankenstein. But he ignored them for now, there was more pressing matter at hand. 

When he opened the door, Impulse was already in the living room, seemingly just waking up. Tango raised an eyebrow at him, “What the hell are those sounds?”

“How should I know?” Impulse whispered.

“Is it at the front door?”

“...Maybe,” Impulse peeked into the hallway, “Probably. Certainly.”

With Impulse beside him, Tango started to calm down. Because nothing could help you feel braver than a ghost busting freak who obsessed over being a hero. At least, he was courageous enough to follow Impulse into the hallway.

The front door looked like it was going to fall down any second, what was with how much it was trembling. Something was yelling outside, hitting the door repeatedly. Even amidst the storms, it was still far louder than any other sounds.

Tango glanced at Impulse, “Do you have your k’rik?”

“Uhuh,” Whispered back the exorcist, showing him the staff he had in his hands.

“I’ll open the door,” Tango clasped his hands on the handle, ignoring how much they shook, “You get ready to hit whatever it is.”

Impulse nodded, and Tango braced against the banging for a few seconds before throwing the door wide open.

The k’rik flew into his vision, and it seemed like Impulse was going to hit whatever it was-

And then he suddenly stopped. Tango glanced at him in confusion before glancing outside to see what it was.

The figure, a human, stared at them in shock, and then abruptly collapsed onto the ground. Their blonde hair was wildly messy, strange purple eyes wide in panic for a moment before closing. He looked familiar, Tango was sure he had seen him somewhere. 

And then it hit him. But before he could say anything, Impulse had already beaten him to it, “...Zedaph?”

\------------------------

“Why are we helping him again?” Tango grumbled.

“Because it looked like he needed it," Impulse shrugged as he carried the blanket into the living room, “Obviously.”

“What if he’s a criminal? What if the police are looking for him?” Tango protested as he pulled out two cups from the shelves, “What if he’s a super evil overlord who’s going to kill us when he wakes up?”

“An evil overlord probably wouldn’t be wasting his time knocking on our door in the middle of the night.”

“How would you know that?” Tango retorted. The water beside him started to boil, “And you’re ignoring the other two.”

“Look, my hero instinct was tingling, okay?” Impulse draped the pink blanket over the unconscious man, “Plus, you’re ignoring an obvious point here. He’s our neighbour.”

“...And?”

“He seemed nice enough when we talked.”

“You guys talked,” Tango rolled his eyes, “Of course you did...Here.”

Impulse stared at him in confusion.

“Coffee,” Tango settled a steaming hot cup onto the kitchen counter.

“Are you drinking coffee at…” Impulse glanced at the clock on the wall, “...3 in the morning.”

“Yep! At least one good thing came out of this,” Tango took a long gulp out of his cup, then gestured to the other one, “Are you drinking it or not? I wouldn’t mind taking it off your hands.”

“I never said I would mind,” Impulse pouted.

He walked into the kitchen and murmured a thank you as Tango handed him a cup. 3 AM coffee, with their neighbour passed out on the couch, and Impulse had a vivid flashback to 2 hours ago, when he was monologuing about how weird his life was. Some deities probably heard that and laughed at his face. 

Because seriously? This was ridiculous. 

Tango seemed to think so as well, judging on how much he was staring at their...not-quite-welcomed guest. Impulse leaned closer to him and whispered, “...I don’t think he’s a supernatural.”

“And why not?”

“I did carry him, and there weren't any tails or anything that I felt”

“Yeah, but I don’t think normal people usually have purple eyes.”

“His eyes were purple?”

“Or I’m blind,” Tango turned to him, and smiled, “You know, you shouldn’t really trust a person that has only one eye with these sorts of things. Still, I’m pretty sure...”

“...Contacts?”

“His strings are purple too,” Tango added, “Maybe the same shade as his eyes. I don’t know if that helps with anything, but just putting that out there. Also, he smells like grass.”

“That’s just being plain rude,” Impulse filed through all his knowledge of the supernatural, but that was way too vague even for him, “...Well, I don’t really like the idea of killing a guest, so let’s hope he’s just drunk and went a bit haywired after going back home from the nightclub.”

Tango started snickering, “I will certainly hope.”

Impulse nodded along as Tango laughed his way into tomorrow, aided by the ridiculous amount of coffee in his system. The exorcist distantly remembered him drinking a cup before he went to bed as well. It was a wonder how Tango ever managed to sleep. 

Still, it was good to see him laughed, coffee-induced though it may be. And then Impulse remembered the dreaded supermarket memories, and all of that went away. Hey, at least he found a probable answer of Tango just inhaling 25 cups of coffee in the time he was off getting salt. 

That made him laugh just from how completely impossible (and completely Tango) it sounded. Tango glanced at him, and _he_ started laughing as well, but for a completely different reason. They probably looked like idiots, laughing at 3 AM like that, but hey, anything could seem idiotic at 3 AM. At least they were feeling better.

In Impulse's case, he felt so much better than his guts suddenly increased to level 4, and he turned to Tango and said, “Hey, are you okay?”

“...What kind of question is that?” His roommate, still giddy from laughing, asked.

“A stupid one, probably,” Impulse said before he could think about the overall mood, how probably-not-a-good idea this was, “And I’m going to definitely regret this later, but can we talk about how freaking weird you were acting yesterday?”

“...Wh-”Tango stopped laughing as the giddiness left his body, and he caught on to the question his roommate just asked, “What the actual fuck is _that_ suppose to mean?”

“Ah,” Impulse gulped. Maybe he should have thought this out better, since the only thing in his mind right then wouldn’t help him much at all.

_Well shoot._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hardest part of writing this, remembering that Tango only have one eye visible (the other one bandaged. Got me everytime. It's just...ughhhhh. Why do I do this to myself?
> 
> That conclude today's mini rant. Slowly going insane from quarantine.


	10. Chapter 10

“Uh...well,” Impulse scratched his head nervously, “Just today...yesterday...at the supermarket, you were acting a little crazy…”

“Thanks.”

“I don’t mean it in a bad way!” Impulse protested, speaking about 5 words per second, “It’s just...kinda weird...and also a bit worrying. All summer you’ve been hiding in your room, then suddenly you went out and got all smiley and stuff, and I don’t know what to think!”

Tango crossed his arms, “Then don’t.”

“How? I live with you! You know that meant I have to deal with you every day, right?” Impulse paused, realizing what he had just said. He mentally cursed, “...I mean…”

He trailed off, looking nervously at his roommate. Either he just made Tango go emo again or he was about to get verbal beat up, and he honestly didn’t know which was worse.

But instead of either of those things, Tango simply took a long gulp of the now cold coffee, then smiled at him, “Don’t. You don’t have to excuse that.”

“No, it’s...it’s wrong to say that,” Impulse lowered his head, “I’m sorry...Still, I want to know what happened.”

“I can see that.”

“Then tell me.”

Tango turned his head to face the exorcist, “...You know, you can be awfully rude when you want to be.”

“I didn’t _want_ to be rude,” Impulse corrected.

“Please, you broke into my house then threw me against the wall when we first met,” Tango raised an eyebrow...his only one, in fact, “Not very heroic, was it?”

“To be honest, you _were_ possessed,” Impulse pointed out, “...And you’re avoiding the subject here.”

“You caught me,” Tango chuckled as he settled down the now empty cup of coffee. Impulse glanced at him in worry, specifically at the developing eye bag, “...Yeah, I was acting strange, I’m aware. Though, you could be more tactful with voicing it out loud.”

“Sorry about that,” Impulse said sheepishly.

Tango leaned against the kitchen counter, movement sluggish, probably from sleep deprivation. He glanced nervously at the guest on their couch, before looking back, sighing, “...I don’t know, to be completely honest with you…I thought everything would be alright if I just don’t see him…”

“Why do you sound like you just went through a very sad break up?”

“If you want an explanation, maybe don’t interrupt me every 5 seconds.”

“Sorry.”

Tango checked the temperature of the water, then made another cup of coffee, ignoring how Impulse was cringing, “So I signed up for another course yesterday, so now I have a different teacher. That’s about it really.”

“I mean…” Impulse hesitated, “I’m not _against_ you never talking to your demon teacher again...actually, I’m all for it. But I don’t want you to be sad or anything.”

“I appreciate that, but as I said, I’m fine,” Tango nodded, almost like he was reassuring himself, “ _Really_.”

“...Okay.”

“I was trying to convince myself of that, I guess, at the market,” Tango smiled, “...And also, I might have drank coffee beforehand as well.”

“I could have guessed that, yes.”

“Yeah...That’s why I was so cheerful, and well, things don’t really work that way. It didn’t help with anything in the end,” Tango looked down at the cup in his hands, eye thoughtful, “...So I’ll just be myself, go back to normal life. Except without Doc. Nice and simple. That’s a good thing, _right_?”

“...You sure?”

“Well…” Tango bit his lower lips for a moment, looking unsure of himself. It almost made Impulse ask if he should reconsider. But then Tango looked up and nodded, “Yes...I’m sure.”

Impulse stared at him, not convinced for a minute. Still, he shrugged, “Then I’m okay with it.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

“...Good-”

“I’m not,” A voice rang out from the living room, “Okay...I mean.”

“You’re awake?” Impulse jumped in his spot, failing to notice Tango murmuring a quiet, “Good for you, noticing that,” beside him.

“Yeah…” their neighbour sat up from the couch, massaging his head tiredly, “About that...Where am I?”

“...You’re the one who started banging on our door at 3 in the morning.”

“Tango!” Impulse winced at the harsh words, “Ignore him! He’s like that sometimes-”

“Sometimes?” Said person interjected.

“Well, no. Not sometimes,” The exorcist sighed, “But that’s not important right now. The point here is you just kinda...show up and passed out. And then we...well, I carried you to the couch...I hope you don’t mind pink.”

Their guest glanced down at the blanket, before smiling, “Oh, I love pink!”

“...Okay then...”

“We’re sidetracking,” Tango grumbled, “The actual point here is why were you trying to break our door down in the middle of the night? And if you say anything involving ‘drinking’, ‘being drunk’, or ‘weed’, I’m afraid that I would have to kick you out.” 

“Tango!” Impulse hissed.

“Just saying,” Tango shrugged, “He wouldn’t have to worry if he hadn’t done any of that.”

“Don’t worry, I haven’t!” The neighbour piqued up.

“Well there you go.”

“So you were sober?” Impulse winced, “Oh…Ummh...Please don’t say you’re a criminal…”

“Gosh no!” 

“Oh, don’t tell me…” Tango gasped, “Evil overlord! We’re doom!”

“No, Tango. He’s not a super evil overlord planning to kill us,” said Impulse as he reached for his pewter staff, “...Though, if you _are_ …”

“Not that either!” Zed quickly denied, sighing in relief as Impulse took his hands off the staff, “Not any of that. I-I thought I was being followed, that’s all! And you’re the nearest room! And also one of you was nice...Please don’t kill me!”

“Well, that depends,” Tango shrugged nonchalantly, “You wake me up. Also the entire apartment smells like grass now.”

Zedaph cringed, “Sorry about that…”

“Wait, wait! Hold on,” Impulse turned to their late night guest, “Are we missing anything here. You said you were being _followed_?”

“About that…” the neighbour scratched the back of his head nervously, “I just have this feeling, and sometimes I would catch shadows at the edge of my vision...I don’t know, it just feels wrong.”

“Yes, and screaming and banging in the middle of the night is how you react?” Tango raised an eyebrow, “Then passing out. Seems a bit extreme, but alright.”

“I realize,” Zedaph scotched over to make room as the two roommates came into the living room. Impulse responded to that by sitting next to him, murmuring a soft thank-you.

Tango plopped himself onto another sofa entirely, still sipping on his coffee

Zedaph laughed sheepishly, “In my defense, there was somebody in my house-”

Tango nearly spitted out the coffee in his mouth. Impulse turned toward their guest, “And you don’t feel like mentioning that beforehand!?”

“-Or...maybe I was just imagining it,” Zedaph observed the damage he had caused, “But I panic before I could think much about it.”

“Really,” Tango coughed.

“Well, I was being careful. Better be safe than sorry is what my friend always says…” Zedaph suddenly trailed off, “...and she’s smart and all that, so... I should probably listen to her… Anyway, that’s about it.”

“...Oh,” Impulse sighed, “...Okay...then? What do you plan to do now? Go back?”

“Probably...Zed chuckled, “Sorry for the trouble.”

“You have no idea,” Tango murmured on the other sofa, voice hoarse from the choking, “Bye bye, please don’t come back.”

“Tango,” Impulse shook his head, “Don’t listen to him. Give us a call if you need any help. Let me write down my number real quick.”

"That's a new one," Zed watched him go in confusion, “How do I call you with numbers?”

Impulse blinked, “...What?”

“Is it some kind of ma-” Zedaph paused, “...Nevermind. I...don’t really understand.”

“Well, it’s simple,” Impulse pointed at the paper where he had just written down the number, “You just give us a call...you know...with your phone?”

“...Oh,” Zedaph stared for a moment, _"..._. _Oohh._ Oh, yeah. I don’t have one of those.”

“You don’t have a phone?” Tango called out from the sofa, “Seriously? Do you live under a rock or something?”

"Uh..." Zed said, “I just...don’t have one!”

The three of them went into an awkward silence after the revelation. It was only broken by Tango’s mumbling as he finished his coffee, “Well, that explains why he couldn’t just call the police.”

Impulse turned to their neighbour, “Nevermind then. If you need any help, just go back here. Just, please, don’t try to break the door this time. We have a doorbell, you know.”

“Sorry about that, and I will,” Zed smiled, surprisingly cheerily, “Bye!

Impulse led the other man to the entrance, and Tango washed both of their mugs. He could hear the two talking in the hallway, probably saying goodbye and all the mushy things that Impulse liked to say. A moment later, the door closed, and his roommate returned.

“Well, that was strange,” Impulse said.

Tango hummed an agreement. 

“You need any help with that?” Impulse pointed at the mugs.

“I’ve got it, don’t worry,” said Tango, “You’re still washing the rest of the dishes in here though.”

“Tomorrow,” Impulse looked at the clock on the wall, “...It’s 4 now. You go back to sleep. I’ll probably stay up for a bit later to see if Zed needs any help.”

“You do that, yeah,” Tango yawned, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Impulse mumbled quietly.

A few minutes later, Impulse heard the sound of blanket shuffling, which he would assume was Tango falling asleep. The exorcist washed his mouth, then drank a cup of water just to make sure that the coffee didn’t ruin his teeth too much.

When he finished his water, it was more than 10 minutes later. Zed was probably fine by now, he would assume.

So after checking the door and shutting off all the lights, Impulse went back to bed. The storm still raged on. He felt as tired as he was last evening. Following that pattern, Impulse half-expected himself to still be awake 4 hours later, counting sheep again. 

He might as well just start now. The 35th sheep had already jumped over the fences. The 36th one was still diddle dallying.

Not much longer, Impulse closed his eyes, and Sheep #36 hopped over the wooden fences, tasting freedom, if only for a moment. 

Then a demon came and ate it.

And Impulse fell asleep.

\------------------------

And so he slept, until he was rudely woken (well, not really rudely) by the smell of pancakes. Impulse groggily opened his eyes, wincing slightly at the sunlight shined into his eyes. Slowly, the exorcist shrugged off the blanket and made his way to the bathroom.

Tango had already set the table when he was done. Impulse sat down on the dining table and dug in while Tango came with a cup of coffee before pouring an ungodly amount of maple syrup on his pancakes.

“Did you sleep last night?” The one-eyed man asked.

“Yeah, you?”

“Could have been better,” Tango shrugged, “But I can’t complain after so much coffee.”

“Uhuh, but did you make some for me this morning?”

“On the kitchen counter.”

9 AM coffee was much better than 3 AM coffee. Though to be honest, coffee was coffee. Impulse downed one cup, then came in for second. But it was nothing compared to his roommate, who had already on his fourth cup by that time. It would be a wonder if either of them could function like a normal human being afterward, not that they _were_ normal functional humans in the first place. But hey, who was judging.

In the middle of Impulse’s third cup, the doorbell rang. He glanced at Tango, who raised an eyebrow at him, “Socializing is your job.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

He went to the door, and who was there to greet him but Zedaph himself, looking...better than last night. The strong smell of fresh grass followed him, and Impulse hoped that Tango could tolerate his shoes smelling like them for a few days, “Oh, hey.”

“Hello!” Zed grinned, “I’m really sorry about last night. I was in a panic. How are you today?”

“I’m...good,” Impulse blinked, “Do you need anything?”

“Well, I just want to say thank you,” Zedaph smiled so wide, it was kind of creepy, “And also, I smell pancakes, and you said I could come over and…”

“Oh.”

“I mean, If only you don’t mind,” Zed backed away, “I’m sorry! This is way too direct. I’m sorry-”

“No, no,” Impulse sidestepped out of the way, “Come on in. I’m sure there’s some extra.”

“Thank you so much! I’m sorry if I’m bothering you. I-” Zed rambled on as he hopped into the house, taking the grass smell with him. Impulse wrinkled his nose, but stayed silent about it. 

They made their way into the house. Tango, probably on his 7th cup of coffee by then, saw them and groaned, “Oh my gosh, no…”

“Hi!” Zedaph waved at him, “Sorry for last night. Could I have some pancakes?”

Tango stared at him in confusion, then turned to Impulse, “ _Why_?”

Impulse shrugged back.

Tango sighed, “I think I made some extra. Let me check…”

“Thank you,” Zedaph settled himself nicely right at the front of the table, the other two chairs at his sides, “Could I also have some tea? If you don’t mind, of course.”

“Tea?” Tango stopped in his tracks, looked at Zedaph, then turned to Impulse. Who, again, shrugged, with just a bit more hesitation this time.

“Impulse,” The one-eyed man took a deep breath, “Are you _kidding_ me right now?”

At the table, Zedaph rambled on obliviously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit the double digit, huh?


	11. Chapter 11

With the pancakes finished, Impulse moved to clean up the dishes, including the ones from yesterday. Overall, it wasn’t something he looked forward to, but he couldn’t really complain after the pancakes and coffee.

At the table, Zedaph was drinking some tea that Tango had pulled out from the back of his cupboard, swearing that he didn’t remember buying it. It was a kind of herbal mix. And Tango had just poured water into, before handing it to their guest, murmuring something about hot leaves juice. Zed didn’t notice, seemingly quite content with his drink, even if it was an unknown age of “possibly 100”. Certainly looked like it, what was with the dust gathered in the pack. 

Impulse made sure to stay away, having flashbacks to when his teacher tried to force him to drink tea. It was a horrible time. Something about keeping the spirit pure and cleansing of the soul that made Impulse honestly considered if this wasn’t the job for him after all. He wasn’t prepared to give up coffee, thank you. 

And then after the falling out, years later, he found out it was pure bulls, and that was a relief. Still, horrible memories, couldn’t fix that. He hoped their new...kinda-friend wasn’t some variety of tea maniac, else he would have to move out.

...Just kidding, of course. But still…

“Thank you for the meal!” Zedaph grinned in his usual sheepish way, “And the tea.”

“No need for the second one. I’m glad to cleanse my home of those crap,” Tango glanced up from his 13th cup of black coffee, looking slightly crazed despite it being only 10AM, “But you’re welcome. Now please, tell me why you’re still here?”

 _Too much coffee already,_ Impulse looked at his roommate in exasperation, “Tango, don’t be rude.”

“Do you think I give a flying f-” Tango glanced away as Impulse raised an eyebrow at him, “Alright! Stop looking at me like that!”

“Like what?” Impulse asked innocently.

“...Whatever,” Tango closed his eye, “I’m going to do some work.” He sat up from the dining table and made his way into his room, leaving the other two by themselves.

“...He’s always like that. Please don’t be offended,” Impulse called from the sink.

Zedaph shook his head, smiling, “It’s alright, I don’t really care. If you don’t mind, may I ask for some more tea?”

“I...uh...let me see,” turning off the tap water, Impulse searched through the cupboard and found the tea bags at the very back of the shelf, as far away as possible, “Here, um...do you mind making it yourself?”

“...Weird request,” Zed shrugged, “But alright. Can you boil the water for me?”

“I got it.”

The water kettle steamed as it finished, and Zed made himself a new, hot, steaming cup of tea, “Normally I would ask if you want a cup along with some acorn and seeds, but you two aren’t really fans, right?”

“Yeah, sorry,” Impulse blinked at the completely random “acorns and seeds” comment, but chose to ignore it, “Just some...bad memories.”

“That’s kind of ironic,” Zedaph chuckled, “I drink tea, but also to forget things as well. Guess circumstances can change a person, huh?”

“...Sure,” Impulse said awkwardly, not exactly knowing what all that was about. And he didn’t particularly feel like asking either, so the exorcist just goes back to the pile of dishes, still looking as high as ever.

They heard a muffled yell that sounded roughly like a string of curse words against computers coming from Tango’s room. Impulse smiled apologetically at Zed, shrugging, “...I promise, he’s actually pretty nice…when you get through all the other stuff.”

“Oh, I’m sure he is,” Zedaph smiled, “You guys _did_ save me last night. Most people kick me out when I do that to them.”

“...You do what now?”

“They let me in, but then just scream me to, ‘Don’t come back,’ whenever I tell them that I thought somebody was following me! So rude, most people back home would have love to have me in their home,” Zedaph pouted, “At least you guys are cool.”

“...Well, I would say you’re welcome, except I have no idea what you’re even talking about,” Impulse blinked at him, “So okay then.”

Zedaph didn’t seem to even have heard him, “...And now you even make me tea. You know, you’re the best neighbour I’ve ever had. Tango...maybe not so much-”

“I heard that,” Tango poked his head out of his room, looking slightly unhinged, “Sorry about the yelling. My computer is absolutely bonkers. I swear there are pieces of iron breaking off it.”

“Is it because _you_ punch them out?” Impulse asked.

Tango rolled his eye, “Haha, very funny.” He closed the door, disappearing back into his room. 

“Good luck with that,” Impulse called after him, then turned back to their guest, “Sorry, what were you talking about?”

“Just how amazing you were, rescuing me,” Zed said, and Impulse felt his chest puffed up in pride. Finally, somebody appreciated him, even if he had to wake up at 3 AM to do it, “That makes it twice now you’ve helped!”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Impulse blushed, “Really, it’s no-...Wait, what did you just say?”

“Huh?” Zed blinked, “Oh, you help me twice now, so thank you!”

“...Twice?”

“Uhuh,” Zed put up a finger, then another, “At 3 this morning, then yesterday.”

“...When yesterday exactly?”

“At the alleyway,” Zed said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, “You know, when you rush in with your staff. It was super cool! You’re like a vigilante or something?”

Impulse blinked at him, “...You’re the person that was being attacked?”

“Well, attacked is a strong word,” Zed chuckled, “More like assault! By somebody posing as my best friend, no less! Well...ex-best frie-”

“That wasn't a person,” Impulse interrupted.

“Huh?”

“It wasn’t a person that was attacking you.”

“...That’s weird,” Zed tilted his head, “I swear it was. You guys all have a head, right? Two legs. Round ears. Actually, that was definitely a human! They looked like Cleo, and she said _she_ was a human…”

Impulse blinked at him, “Zed, that wasn’t a human, trust me.”

“What else could it be?”

“...I really don’t know how to break this to you, but...” Impulse paused, but only for a moment. “Heck subtlety” was basically his motto at this point, “It was a ghost.”

“...A what?”

“A ghost.”

Zedaph went quiet, staring into empty space, but he snapped out of it just as quickly, “...Well that explains a lot.” Impulse watched nervously as his guest started to scowl, face darkening into an ugly frown, “...Cleo...I swear to-...Oh hey, what were we talking about?”

Surprised by the sudden shift of mood, the exorcist jumped, “The ghost…?”

“Oh yeah!” Zed laughed, scarily cheerful, “About that. I’ll take your words for it then! Still, thank you! You’re my hero!”

“Sure…” said Impulse, “...Hey, Zed, can I ask you something?”

Zed glanced at him and shrugged, “Why not?”

“How d-”

The door to Tango’s room slammed open, and out the one-eyed man came, looking messed up, “The computer had beaten me. I’ll defeat it another day.”

“...Sure, you do that," Impulse stared at his roommate in panic, trying to communicate words with his eyes, even mouthing the words out, _Weird guest. Possibly not human. Also, don't like tea._

Unfortunately, trying to talk through looks wasn’t that effective when the receiver was half-blind, as Tango could testify for you, “What bird not human, don’t like pee?”

Impulse facepalmed. Zed just looked between them in confusion.

“Zed...just, here’s the question,” Impulse took a deep breath, “Why were you able to see that ghost?”

Tango, startled, looked at their neighbour, “You can _what_?”

“Wha-What do you mean?” Zedaph glanced at the host at the sink, “I-I can what?”

 _Oh here we go again,_ “You said you can see the ghost that was attacking you,” Impulse began, “Zed...only the supernatural can see each other, especially invisible ones like ghosts or spirits.”

“Really?”

Tango crossed his arms, “With exception.”

“With exception,” Impulse agreed, “But I don’t think you are...no offense. You’ve just been...strange.”

Zedaph gulped.

“So...please tell us?” Impulse backed off, “I mean! It’s your choice! And unless you’re some kind of evil spirit or something, there won’t be any problems. No, nope not at all I-”

Suddenly, Zed began laughing. Tango glanced at him in shock, then back at Impulse with a look that screamed, _Fuck you!_

 _Freak me too,_ , Impulse stared back at him.

“Oh, I’m terribly bad at lying, aren’t I,” the two looked back at their neighbour, who was wiping tears from his eyes, “Guess I can’t really hide it for long with these purple eyes.”

“Yeah, that too,” Impulse gulped, “So uh...what exactly...are you?”

He smiled, “I’m an elf. There. Done? Or are we some kind of evil spirits you have to purge.”

Impulse shook his head frantically, “Elves are fine!”

“Then no problems, yes?” Zedaph grinned easily.

Impulse looked up to his roommate, who, til that point, had been oddly silent.

Tango met his eyes, before surprisingly saying, “No problem.”

“Great!” Zedaph smiled, “Then thank you for the meal. And also for saving my butts. This turned out a bit more awkward of an introduction than I had hoped for, but welp. I should be going now, then, I guess.”

“...I’ll show you out the door,” Said Impulse, sending Tango one last questioning look.

He led Zed out to the hallway, opening the door for him. Zed nodded a thank you, before saying, “Your friend looked a bit upset. I hope that I haven’t done something wrong.”

“About that…” Impulse hesitated, “I’ll talk to him. Don’t worry, it’s not any of your fault personally.”

“Alright then,” Zed waved at him, before heading back to his own apartment. Impulse closed the door behind him. 

The moment it was shut, Impulse took a deep breath and walked back into the living room. Tango was splaying out on the couch like a human noodle, but at least he didn’t look any angrier than before. Impulse gulped for what seemed like the hundredth time today, “Hey.”

"Uhuh?”

“You’re not going into moping again, then.”

“Give it a couple minutes,” Tango sighed, “...It’s fine. Not like I know him well or anything. Not like...not like with Doc. It’s just…”

“Just…?”

“...Maybe I drank too much coffee or something, that’s why I’m not feeling as strongly about this as I feel like I should be.”

“So we are _not_ immediately moving to another planet.”

“What?” Tango turned over onto his belly, “No. I don’t have that kind of money. And I’m certainly not going to ask Mr. Void. Nope. Never again…”

“I’m kinda worried that the only thing stopping you is money, but okay then,” Impulse took a deep breath, “I guess that meant you’ll have to get used to it.”

“As long as I never see him again. Never talk to him again. Never interact. Never breath the same air,” Tango said, “Yeah, I’ll get used to it.”

“You know,” Impulse sat down next to the sentient pool noodle, “I still don’t understand why you’re so against supernatural. I mean, I know you don’t want to get into any trouble, but some of them are just trying to live life as well.”

“You say that while you go out and kill them? Sure, I’ll take you seriously.”

“Hey, I only kill the bad ones!” Impulse pointed out, “The ones that are causing trouble. All the others, they’re fine. Like Zed. I mean he’s freaking weird and also kinda creepy, but I don’t think he’s trying to kill anybody...probably.”

“Impulse, you really don’t understand and I mean it,” Tango goes onto his back again, plopping his legs right onto his roommate’s lap, “..But fine. Alright. Sure, not all supernaturals are bad, blahblahblah. I still don’t want him near me.”

“You do that,” Impulse said, “I can’t really stop you. I just want to know-”

“Of course you do.”

“-Are you some kind of acti-”

“No.”

“Some kind of relationship not wo-”

“Not even close.”

“Your surrogate parents are literal gods that enslave you at birth then force you to harvest potatoes forever?”

“What? No! Are _you_ alright?” Tango eyed him warily.

“I’m...fine,” said Impulse, voice cracking a bit, “I’m just saying. Why are-”

“Don’t you have dishes to clean?” Tango grumbled.

Impulse immediately shut his big mouth at the sight. No help pushing some buttons too far, “...Yeah, I should do that. But when you’re ready-”

“ _Impulse_ ,” Tango glared.

“Okay! Okay. Get your legs off of me then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back, back again~
> 
> Bought a new game so I probably be inactive for a while longer. So I'll just leave you with this chapter here.


	12. Chapter 12

Now, Zed wasn’t opposed to being in a place with a bunch of humans around him.

It was just that he was _absolutely_ opposed to being in a place with a bunch of humans around him.

Wasn’t any of their faults personally. Zed just couldn’t look at their round ears and unnatural movement and nearly square heads without getting the creep. 

They were no fairies, mind you, those things were stuff of nightmare. And unlike with the elves back home, humans have the ability to look drastically different to each other, so he couldn’t really judge all of them. Just...most of them...

Most of them scared him.

Yet here he was, still, because he needed the money. And humans apparently viewed papers and metal bits as a stable currency to trade with. Zed didn’t really understand it, just like how he didn’t understand everything else. And maybe that was why he couldn’t keep any of the jobs he previously had. The last one, where he helped customers find their items, was actually the longest so far. A whopping 2 weeks, Zed would like to be congratulated. Unfortunately, his employers didn't like the fact that he kept “hiding in the bathroom whenever there’s a lot of customers around.” 

To make a long story short, he got kicked out. Again.

Cleo would know what to do. He missed Cleo. If only she wasn’t dead. Actually dead, this time. Not ghostified. At least then she still hangs around and moves sometimes. But ghost Cleo _did_ try to kill him. So he should probably just accept it and move on.

Because right now, he needed to survive first. 

The cashier stared at him as he asked about the job posting, “Dude, you could just sign-up online. Website is on the poster.”

Zed glanced at the cashier in desperate confusion. Can somebody, just _please_ , explain, “...I don’t know what online is. Can you tell me?”

The cashier looked at him like he was crazy, “Online...you know….the internet?”

“Yes, and can you explain it to me?” Zed repeated, biting back a sigh of frustration.

“...I think you should leave, man,” The cashier glanced nervously at him. 

This time, Zedaph actually sighed. The door opened with a jingle, and he walked out into the town square, avoiding eye contact with any humans around him.

Who knew the human world would be so brutal! 

He thought it was just animals walking around doing meaningless tasks. That was what the lessons, the countless hours reading scrolls, the pain of having to listen to all those lectures, said. And that was what he thought. He could remember Cleo always laughing whenever he asked her about it. It was so frustrating. 

Zed crossed his arms in childish anger as he sat down on the edge of the fountain, pouting at his humanoid reflection in the water. It didn’t do much except made him feel a bit better. It was dark out already, and that fact didn’t make him feel any better.

“Howdy, there!” Somebody approached him from behind, and Zedaph jumped, “Why the grump face?”

The elf glanced up, “...Hi?”

A man with round glasses and a chainmail hat (weird), came up to him. His face was shadowed in the night, and Zed could appreciate that fact. Combined with the hat covering his ears, and the very bad lighting, the man looked a little less humanlike than most, “Hello, my friend! My name is Joe Hills, from Tennessee! And I couldn’t help but ask, are you quite alright?”

“Of course,” Zed replied, smiling at the stranger, “No need to worry about me.”

“Oh, but you looked so down,” Joe Hills smiled widely, “Are you sure?”

“...Yes?” Zedaph said, “I’m sure…?”

“Well, good for you!” Joe leaned toward him, and Zed looked around nervously. Alright, so maybe this was significantly more creepy than he had thought. Most people had just ignored them, probably not wanting to get involved. 

And then Zed realized something. It was dark. Awfully dark. And the man seemed to be blending into it quite well.

He couldn’t see his ears. But his head was slim and sharp. Zed had thought that maybe it was just a very elven looking human, but...

Panicking in his head, Zed gulped, “Um...Sorry...I-I have to go. If you could excuse m-

“Oh, but where are you going?” Joe stared at him, and Zed could see the bright blue orbs staring into his body, “Wouldn’t you like to stay and talk a little longer? No?”

“...Bye!” Zed turned away from the man and began speed walking away. 

The shadow under his feet warped and contorted into increasingly unnatural forms, and behind him, Zed could hear a lilt voice, almost singing its words, “That’s awfully rude of you, little prince,” Whispered the thing behind him.

Zedaph ran.

\------------------------

Until then, Tango was enjoying his time at home while Impulse was out buying more purified salt, since Tango accidentally kicked the salt circle thing he had made before. In his defense, it was really creepy, but apparently it could keep supernaturals out, so Tango ain’t complaining.

The TV was on, a film about a mob leader leaving horses on beds. He was enjoying some coffee. It was peaceful.

And then his door started banging. 

Grumbling curses under his breath, Tango slowly got off the couch and made his way to the entrance, suspecting that he knew who it was. The light blinked on in the hallway, as it always does, and he grabbed the keys hanging on the wall.

The moment the door was unlocked, it was like a noise bomb going off.

“I’m so sorry for doing it again! I swear it’s real this time! They’re going to-”

“Alright, stop!” Tango interrupted him loudly, crinkling his nose against the smell of grass that suddenly engulfed the air, “For fuck sake, just get inside.”

Zedaph came in, checking, with worrying glances, behind his back. Noticing that, Tango followed his gaze, but there were only grey strings as far as he could see. 

Still, he slammed the door shut and double-checked that it was locked. 

Behind him, Zedaph panted as he leaned against the wall, wiping sweats from his face, “Thank you...My goodness…Thank you.”

Tango raised an eyebrow at him, “...Come in. I’ll make you a drink.”

15 minutes later, Zedaph was snuggled on the sofa, a cup of tea in his hands. The movie was still going on. Now there was somebody riding the horse in bed. Tango gave one last look at the film before turning the TV off, “You better give me a damn good reason not to kick you out.”

“I’m sorry!” Zed began right away, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. There’s another elf chasing me, and he’s a dark elf and that’s really scary and I’m pretty sure he’s going to kill me. But I don’t want to get killed, so I ran here and I think you scared him off so thank you!”

“...Right,” said Tango, “Can give me a minute?”

“...Yes?”

Tango closed his eye and took a deep breath. Right then, Zedaph could almost hear him screaming into the void, despite no sound actually coming out. Some birds even fly away. He silently filed that under his list of evidence that Tango was a wrathful former god who retired as a human. It was a long list, filled with mostly nonsense. But one day, he hoped, the truth would be uncovered.

One day.

Not-quite-a-minute later, Tango turned to his guest, “...Sorry. Now...where are we?”

“...Um-”

“Oh, I remember,” Tango said, “You were going to die. About that...What the actual fuck?”

“Please don’t kill me!”

“No-I’m not going to kill you!” Tango grumbled, “Just-... _explain_.”

And so Zedaph told him about the encounter. He wished Impulse was there, though. The exorcist was always easier to talk to.

“So...another elf out to get you because you’re a prince,” Tango sighed, “Just my luck, great. What else?”

“That’s basically it, pretty much,” Zed tried to bring the mood up, “Unless you want to get into the war and power struggle of our world and all that.”

“No, you’re right, I don’t,” Tango covered his face with his hands, voice tired, “I swear...if there are assassins outside my door tomorrow-”

“Actually...about that…  
  
“My gosh, here we go again,” Tango whispered under his breath, “ _What_?”

“...You don’t have to yell like that," Zed pouted.

“Why-”

“I know I interrupted your movie and all that,” Zed said, “But I don’t see why you have to be extra pissy all the time whenever I’m around. I mean, I’m getting attacked here! You could at least be a _little_ more sensitive.”

“ _Wow_ ,” Tango glared at him, “Well, I’m sorry, Your Highness, that I wasn’t looking out for your feelings. Are you going to order my head to be chop off now?”

Zed wrinkled his nose in disgust, “Chop heads off? We’re not savages. Unlike...unlike…” He paused, not very sure how far he could push a button. And it wasn’t very fair to Cleo. Not all humans kill their own kind in such horrific ways, “Whatever! I just don’t see why you have to be upset. Is it because I’m an elf-”

“Bingo. Head on,” Tango rolled his eye, “Here’s a shitty prize. Now expla-”

“Because I’m an elf? That’s it?” Zed crossed his arms defiantly, “That’s shallow. You shouldn’t be-

“I literally cannot care less.”

“Why? What have we done to you?”

“It’s personal if you really want to know. It’s all of you in general,” Tango said boredly, “But either way, it’s none of your business.”

“All of the supernaturals?” Zed demanded, “What? A pixie stole your bag once? Centaurs threw a pen at you? What? Did your parent ran off after fairi-”

 _"Shut up,"_ Tango snarled, for the first time actually fully in the conversation, “Shut up. You understand _nothing_! I’ve got out of it once, and then what? My eyeball got ripped out. Somebody close to me turns out to be a fucking demon! And here I am back at it again! So shut it!”

“Yes, I don’t understand anything, but what I do understand is that you are a giant jerkface!” Zed ranted, “You never smiled. You always glared at me, which made me really self-concious. I’m sorry, but I just don't understand why...why..."

“Are you done?” Tango grumbled.

“I-”

“Great. Leave.”

“What?”

“I mean, _leave_.”

“...But I can’t!” Zed pointed out the window, “There’s somebody out to kill me!”

“Sounds like a ‘you’ problem,” Tango retorted, “Look, I never wanted to get involved in any of this. And then you just barge in and get all into my personal space. I think you should leave now.”

“No!” Zedaph sank deeper into the sofa, “I’m not going anywhere! I don’t want to get killed!”

“You litt-”

“I’m taller than you!”

“Fine! Stay there then!” Tango gritted his teeth, “Just shut. _Up._ Gosh, I should never have let you in. You made Impulse seem like heaven.”

“Well...You too!”

Reluctantly, Zed closed his mouth and sipped on the herbal tea, watching his host closely. Tango raised an eyebrow (his only eyebrow, so the action didn’t really work) at the judging eyes before laying down on the couch, hands covering his face.

And he just laid there.

Zed, feeling very awkward, sat in silence, not knowing what to do. Maybe he could have handled this better. He could absolutely have handled it better, but also, humans were so complicated. Back home, everybody would have just agreed with him.

But wasn’t that why he wanted to run away in the first place. Zedaph sighed. Or maybe it was because of Cleo. 

The light in the hall blinked, and Zed could catch Tango glaring at it underneath his hand. The silence grew thicker.

And thicker.

Until Zed had enough, “We aren’t that different from humans, you know, other than the whole magic stuff. We just want to live life too. I bet you could have befriended one, and you would probably never know.” Tango scowled, an ugly expression on his face. Zed didn’t like it at all. Had he messed up somehow? 

So he quickly backtracked, “I-I don’t want to presume anything, of course. I’m just saying...personality wise and stuff like that, we’re...pretty close to what humans are like. Feel the same, act the same sometimes, maybe even have the same appearance. I mean look at me!”

“You’re a ranter, aren’t you?”

“Well...yes. I have been told,” Zed chuckled sheepishly, “Really, I just want you to stop being mean. I’ll cry one day, and it will be your fault.”

Tango crossed his arms, still lying on the sofa. Zed glanced at him nervously, wondering why he looked even more ticked off than before, “We’ll see about that.”

“Maybe the problem is you,” Murmured Zed, “You’re the one who had always assumed the worst. But it isn’t helping you much, is it? Still getting involved either way.”

Tango squinted his eye, “What was that?”

“I-I mean…” Zed said, “I don’t want to speak recklessly. We’re not that close or anything. Just...through observation. It’s not helping you...that much.”

Now he had done it. No way he was getting out of this alive. Zed silently wished to the gods above that he'll at least get a proper burial. He was going to get killed. Maybe if Impulse comes home right then. No, probably not. His luck wasn’t that good.

Awkwardness clouded the space around them. Suddenly, Zedaph was painfully aware of the clock ticking on the wall. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Tango let out a shaky breath,, “You really called me out on it, huh?”

Zed nearly wept in joy right then and there, “I-...um…”

“No, just stop. You’ll end up spitting bullshit again,” Tango wiped away a sarcastic tear, “Wow, the supernatural can be as much of a jerkass as I am? Such a surprise.”

“Well, plenty of elves that I know are. And I’m going to add the one chasing me right now to the list.”

“Oh yeah, about that,” sighed Tango, rubbing his eye tiredly, “..What were you saying before all of... _this?"_

“...I’m not sure it would be appropriat-”

“Just spill, Your Highness.”

“...Is there any way you could let me stay here today?” 

“Oh, so it’s that kind of inappropriate,” Tango wiggled his brow.

“What do you mean?”

“Nevermind. Just...continue.”

“Well, I don’t really feel safe with that dark elf hunting me right now,” Zed proposed, “So I think I should just stay here, with someone who can actually fight.”

“...What do you mean? I can’t-” Tango paused, “...Ooh! You mean Impulse.”

“...Yes?”

Tango looked away thoughtfully, “I’ll have to ask him first. Also, you’re sleeping on the couch.”

Zed paled. He thought that him, being a guest, could maybe get one of the beds. Human beds already hurt his back, he couldn’t start to imagine sleeping on the tiny chair would feel like. Alas, he probably shouldn’t be the chooser in this situation, and so he nodded, grateful, “Thank you!”

“Uhuh.”

“..And sorry about getting into your business.”

“About that,” Tango said, “Give it a few more hours. Then I’ll decide whether I want to be angry or not.”

“And if you are?”

“I’ll kick you out of the house,” Tango began, “And tell Impulse to make his stupid salt circle again, so you hopefully won’t get in.”

“He wouldn’t!”

“You want to bet?” Tango raised an eyebrow. Knowing Impulse, he probably wouldn’t. But Zed only knew Impulse as the nicer neighbour that can sometimes wreck shit with a staff, Tango was going to take that chance.

Unfortunately for him, Zed just looked confused, “What’s ‘bet’?”

“How long have you been here again? Human society world?”

“About...3 months…maybe...I don’t quite understand the calendar here yet…”

Tango stared at him, “How the heck have you managed to survive this long?”

“...Luck?” Zed cringed, “I mean, depend on what you mean by survive. On my first few days, somebody said she would ‘arrest’ me if I try to take some flowers. I don’t really know what that means, but she looks really angry. And then I couldn’t get a jo-”

“Whatever,” Tango grimaced, “My gosh, forget I ask!”

Zed crossed his arms and pouted, “You’re being mean again!”

“Oi! Don’t assume it’s because you're an elf _all_ the time,” Tango shrugged, “Maybe it’s just that my personality is hot garbage. Don’t judge.”

Zed huffed in annoyance. Honestly, humans were so weird. You couldn’t read them at all. This one knew that he was being the worst, yet continued to do it anyway. Back home, any elves would have apologized if he ever yelled at them like he just did. Skip that, they would have begged on their knees! The insolent. The elf prince pouted childishly at the one-eyed human and engaged in the stare down.

One that he, unsurprisingly, lost. As Zed glanced away reluctantly under his sharp glare, Tango sighed, “Do you want me to get some more tea?”

“...Thank you.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“...You’re still pretty mean regardless,” Zed admitted, “But I guess I shouldn’t assume all the time-”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”

“-and just see it as you being your normal shit self.”

“Shi-” Tango stared at him, “I didn’t know you swear, elf boy.”

“Swear?” Zed licked his lips, “Was that what all those unnecessary description words you always add called! Like fuck? Or bulls-”

“Please don’t.”

“Or fucking,” said Zed , “And shi-”

“You can stop now, thank you!” Tango covered his ears, “I didn’t know you were learning!”

“Well, it’s hard not to learn when fucking you do it every couple of sent-”

“It’s _not_ used like that!” Tango protested, “You don’t add it to random words! It’s for very specific cases!”

Zed put his hands on his hips defiantly, “Like shit when?”

“That’s wr-” Tango sighed a very long, suffering sigh, “It’s too early for this shit.”

“It’s 6 in the evening,” Zed paused for dramatic effect, “...Fuck.”

“Alright! That’s it! I’m done!” Tango ran into his room and slammed the room the door shut, “Get your own fucking tea!”

“Thank you!” Zed called after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, it's me, back from the hundred years nap to defeat Ganon-
> 
> Oh wait, wrong fandom. Anyway, here's back to you with another chapter. Tangy boy need to be call out eventually


	13. Chapter 13

“So, you’re a prince,” Impulse said, “And somebody is trying to kill you.”

“Basically, yes.”

Zed held his breath. It was basically just courtesy, asking Impulse at this point. If Tango hadn’t kicked him out yet, he had a pretty good chance of staying, but Zed should really remind himself that he had only known them for a week. 

“...I mean…” Impulse shrugged, “Not the weirdest thing that had happened to me.”

“It’s not?” Tango, currently in the state of a human blob lounging on the couch, sputtered, “Impulse, there better not be any assassins showing up asking for you too-”

“No, not assassins,” Impulse quickly reassured him.

“I swear to god-”

“It’s nothing important” the exorcist interrupted, “At least...not as important as this. You said you are an elf prince?”

Zed jumped at the sudden address, “Y-Yes?”

“What are you doing here then?” Impulse asked, “I mean...if elves go by medieval standards...don’t you have some kind of kingdom to rule? Where are all the guards and servants and...stuff?”

“About that…” Zedaph smiled sheepishly, “Would you believe me if I said, I just ran away?”

“...Well, it’s good then that I’ve already set up the salt circle.”

“...That’s it?” Tango asked his roommate in surprise, “What? He just said he ran away? What have you been doing that was weirder than that?”

“You don’t want to know,” Impulse chuckled, “I guess I just assume he has his reason.”

“Oh, I do,” Zed mumbled, “It’s simple, really. I just didn’t like being a prince that much.” The other two stared at him, dumbfounded. Zed assumed that they had no idea what he meant. Or maybe they just think he was crazy. Him being examined like that, Zed couldn’t help but looked away, a bit creeped out. Frigging humans, why do they have to be so scary? “What? It was just really boring! Everybody else got to go on an adventure, and then there I was, stuck inside. I didn’t like it there...and also Cleo might have influenced me into going...but that’s only a part of it!”

“Cleo?” Impulse shook his head, “Nevermind. It’s your choice. I won’t get into your business.”

“Unlike somebody,” Tango coughed.

Zedaph pouted, “Only because you were being mean!” 

Impulse came and sat next to the elf prince, looking tired of...well, everything, “Well, you guys obviously talked beforehand, so I hereby say that I would like to apologize for anything Tango here spouted out of his mouth.”

“He started it!” Tango protested indignantly.

“I don’t think that matters much here.”

“And I can’t believe you are ganging up on me,” Tango stood up, “Whatever. I’m going to get some work done.”

“Good luck with that,” Impulse called after him. Tango didn’t reply as he shut the door of his room.

And then it was back to silence, as Zedaph stared nervously at the exorcist before him. Impulse looked back, probably as equally awkward. And so they stared unblinking. What did Cleo call it? A blinking contest? 

Well, if it was that, then Zed definitely loses. He averted his eyes after a few minutes, looking down at the door.

What? That wasn’t how you lose a blinking contest? Well, how would he know that!

Impulse blinked at him, oblivious to the mess that was inside the other’s head, “So...where’s your pointy ears?”

“Hm?”

“Pointy ears?” Impulse pointed to his own terrifyingly round ears, “You elves have those, right?”

“...We do!” Zed grinned, glad to finally be on a subject that he knew anything about, “I normally have, but now I have to illusioned my ears to look human.”

“Illusioned? You can do magic?”

"All supernatural have some kind of disguises," Zedaph smiled proudly, puffing his chest up, “But woodland elves possesses the strongest illusion magic. We can change ourselves to look like anything. Comes in useful too, and it's way better than whatever those Dark Elves have-”

“So you just magic your ears to look human?” Impulse interrupted.

Zed nodded, “Cleo said I should, because humans don’t have them.”

“That makes sense, I guess,” Impulse said, “...Cleo?”

“My best friend!” Zed nodded cheerfully, “She was so much smarter than me, and also she helped me escape the elven realm. She was amazing….I miss her…”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

Impulse tilted his head, confused, “You said you miss her, I just assume that she...Nevermind, I’m sorry-”

“Oh, no, it’s fine,” Zed grinned, “She is dead.”

Impulse blinked at him, silent. 

Zed stared at him puzzledly, “Are you alright?”

“A-And you’re okay with that?”

“Of course I am. Why?” said Zed, “She just died. She’ll come back eventually.”

“Sh-She...What?”

“Isn’t that what happens when you die?” Zed scratched the back of his neck, “You go away for a while, and then you come back. Everybody does that...Or is it different with humans?”

“I mea-” Impulse sputtered, “Yeah-...I-...Nevermind, do you want to do something else? Something other than talking?”

Zed frowned, “What? Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s just…” Impulse sighed, “...I have some cards. Let’s play some cards. Do you know how to play?”

“...No?”

“Okay, I’ll teach you,” Impulse took a deep breath, “I’ll teach you, righ-”

“Did somebody say cards?” Tango slammed his door open and peeked out, making the both of them jump, “What? Did you t-”

“Just how thin are your walls?” Impulse said incredulously, “Did you hear everything?”

“No?” Tango raised his brow, “Why? Are you guys talking about me behind my back? Honestly, I thought you’re better than gossiping like a group of high school gir-”

“We’re not talking about you,” Zed said, “...Well, not right now.”

“What was that?”

“We’re playing cards!” Impulse yelled between the two of them, getting up to go to his room, “We are going to sit down, and play a round of cards, and there won’t be any existential questions or supernatural issues brought up, okay?”

“Fine with me,” Tango murmured, “But I’m not playing, I have to work.”

Zed turned to him, “Cleo said that whenever somebody says that, they’re just scared.”

“Fuck your Cleo.”

“Wha-”

“What did I just say?” Impulse returned with a bang, cards in hands, “Okay, Tango, just do whatever you want. I’m going to teach Zed how to play blackjack.

“Coward, do poker.”

“You don’t have a say when you’re not even playing, Tango.”

“Whatever,” The one-eyed man came out of his room again, now with a computer in hands. He collapsed onto the sofa and turned to face the other two, “Let’s see you teach it, Mr. Impulsesv.”

“Shut up, don’t make me nervous,” Impulse said. Turning to the elf, who was unfortunately not on a shelf (nor in the Santa’s Workshop), he began, “So what you gonna want to do is…”

As he rambled on, Zed furrowed his brow in order to understand. Humans certainly have interesting ways of solving their problems. Apparently you can earn a lot or lose a lot in a round of game, which, in Zedaph’s very personal opinion, was kind of stupid. Why would you take that chance?

“Most people don’t,” Impulse explained when he asked, “But sometimes they can afford to lose. Sometimes, they just don’t have any option left.”

“Or they can just be drunk and can’t stop,” Tango interjected smoothly, not even looking at them as he typed on the keyboard.

Zed waited for Impulse to deny that claim, but he just remained silent, “You might as well just fight to the death then. At least then you can rely on your ability, and not on...luck.”

“I would argue that you can have skill in blackjack. But if you don’t want luck, you can also...ensure your chances some other way,” Tango shrugged.

“What do you mean?”

Tango opened his mouth to answer, but before he could say anything, Impulse interrupted him with a sigh, “Let’s not get into that right now, when you don’t even know how to play the game yet.”

Zed furrowed his eyebrows, “Alright…”

Impulse finished his explanation, and they went on to play some rounds, all of which he apparently lost.

“You really suck at this, huh?” Even Impulse had to say.

“It’s complicated!” Zed protested, “We don’t have any games this hard at home. They’re for children anyway.”

“For children?” Tango winked, “Yeah, because I can remember me, 14, fresh and young, just wrecking it out on the table. Earn me some chips, and some other chips, you know?”

Impulse stifled a laugh.

He did win, eventually, but with a lot of giggling from Tango for some reason. Zed took it as a sign that Impulse had gone easy on him. But he did get a prize for some reason. Impulse made him a cup of tea. It was worth struggling to learn how to shuffle cards.

“Right, so obviously gambling games are not a very good influence,” Impulse said, “How about we just share some stuff about ourselves instead?”

“Alright!” 

“Well, how I’m glad I’m not playing,” Tango rolled his eye, “You’re really turning this into a girl sleepover, aren’t you?”

“Yeah?” Impulse crossed his arms, “Do you have any ideas of what we should do, Tango?”

“Poker.”

“I already, no more gambling.”

“You’re just a ballpit of fun, aren’t you?” Tango said absentmindedly, “Fine, play your confession game. That ought to go well.”

\----------------------------

It did not go well. 

Okay, in Impulse’s optimistic opinion, it could have gone a lot worse. However, Tango immediately interrupted him, simply stating that he wished he could “grow wings and flapped like a chicken out of that room” because how uncomfortable the situation was.

“...So the thug that was pinning me to the wall, he looked down into my pocket and saw the bag of powder, the ash of a trickster spirit I exorcised that day, which just so happen to be white,” said Impulse, “And he promised to let me go if I gave it to him. I, scared for my life, agreed. And that’s how one man snorted the ashes of a dead person, and I was unlucky enough to be there and witness it.”

“Do you people usually do those things? Breathing in powder?” Zed asked, concerned, “That...doesn’t sound healthy.”

“Well, some people still do it. You just gotta deal with it,” Tango interjected for the fifth time despite clearly stating that he would not be participating (“I never said I wouldn’t give sarcastic remarks in-between!” Tango protested). Impulse sighed a suffering sigh, “I used to encounter plenty of people like that when I was out on the street.”

Uh oh, Impulse stopped, “...You were what?”

Zed too, tilted his head in confusion, “Huh? Why were you not home? Don’t all you humans have one?”

Tango paused, before covering his mouth, a look of regret on his face. Thankfully, Impulse was there to take pity on him, “Some don’t, Zed. Humans probably shouldn’t be grouped as all the same. Is that what the elves think?”

“Yes! I read through the entire royal library and everyone seemed to just write them the exact same way…” Zed continued on to how his education only allowed him the briefest looks into other species.

Tango nodded a thanks to Impulse, who in turn, smiled back at him.

After several hours of “uhuh” and “good to know” from the two humans, Zed, blinking tiredly, finally decided it was time to stop talking, “And my personal guard, who was a bitch-”

Impulse glared at the only possible culprit of this horrific atrocity. Tango simply stuck his tongue back.

“-And because she knew how much I wanted to leave, she said, ‘why do you care anyway? It’s not like you’re going anywhere!’” Zedaph rolled his eyes, “And then I slapped her and walked away like Cleo said I should.”

“Okay! Zed, I think that’s enough for today! Why don’t you get off to sleep? It’s getting late,” Impulse’s voice nearly dipping into pleading territory.

Zed blinked, “...Alright then.” 

“Just take my room,” Tango said suddenly.

Impulse looked between them. Zed staring at the one eyed man in confusion, and Tango glaring right back.

“But you said I’m to sleep on the couch-”

“I was kidding!” Tango grumbled, “I have a heart, you know? And courtesy. Just take my room, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

Zed stared for a few more seconds before his face broke into a wide grin, “Thank you!”

Tango shooed him away. 

A few minutes later, Tango winced as the unmistakable sound of somebody jumping like a child on his bed rang throughout the house. Impulse glanced at him sympathetically, “Nice of you to let him sleep on the bed.”

“Well, it would be difficult to talk to you if he was out here.”

“You want to talk?”

“Yeah…” Tango’s gaze softened as he turned toward his roommate, “Thanks...for covering my ass.”

“I-I mean,” Impulse blushed, scratching the back of his neck, “It’s not a problem.”

“Still, I wanted to thank you,” Tango hugged his knees, “Were you...surprised?”

Impulse shrugged, “I guess…you seem pretty well off here. A far cry from the streets, if you ask me.”

“Well...stuff happened,” Tango continued on, not stopping to elaborate, “Then I was living mostly on my own in this apartment. Some of the skills I picked up on the run were useful. Like being able to cook, for example.” He looked pointedly at the other man.

Impulse winced, remembering back to that one time he set off the fire alarm trying to cook, “You’re never letting that go, are you?”

“Nope! I had to talk to the landlords about it, this is revenge.”

“In my defense, I don’t really have the time to learn all those stuff you know!” Impulse exclaimed, “I spend most of my free time training.”

“Training? For what?”

“To be an exorcist,” Impulse shrugged, “Fighting, reading up on different supernaturals. Then add going to normal school.”

Tango tilted his head, “You started training that soon? I thought it would be after high school, at least.”

“...No?” Impulse laughed, waving his hand around casually, “I had been doing it since I was 5.”

“Huh...” Tango mouthed the words to himself, only realizing what the other had said after a couple of seconds, “...Wait, 5?”

“...Yeah?” Impulse shrugged. When he noticed the shocked look on his companion’s face, he quickly added, “I’m pretty sure my entire family started around that age…At least, that’s what my teacher said.”

“That’s…” Tango frowned “What if you...don’t want to be an exorcist? Sounds like a big decision for a 5-year-old.”

“Well…” Impulse hesitated, furrowing his brows, “I never really thought about that…”

“That sounds...concerning.”

“Look,” Impulse coughed, trying to steer the subject. It feels weird, wrong. He wasn’t the one who should be revealing his childhood right now. “How old were you, when you were on the street?”

“Young,” Tango pursed his lips, “But not 5. I only did it because I have no other choice. Nobody would take me in,” he chuckled lightly, “Don’t blame them really.”

“Really?” Impulse raised an eyebrow at that, hoping that this would steer the topic away from his own childhood. Call him a coward, but it made him uncomfortable, talking about it, “Nobody?”

Tango stopped chuckling. Shoot, Impulse thought, wondering if he had messed up somehow. But Tango didn’t look mad. His eye unfocused, gazing into the distance. It was as if he had just froze.

“...Tango?”

The eye blinked, “Huh?”

“I...uh…” Impulse bit his lips, trying to choose his words, “I asked...if there was really nobody to take you in.”

“Oh, right.”

“...You don't have to say anything, really. If you’re not comforta-”

“Yes, I had nobody...and let's just leave it at that,” Tango said, trying to keep the hitch and waver out of his voice. Fuck, why was his throat suddenly stuck. His eye were glazing over again, his breath getting uneven, frantic, and Tango wasn’t even aware of it.

Impulse glanced over with concern at the unblinking crimson red iris. He tried to keep not shuddered at seeing the colour. They had lived together for a long time now, and yet he could never get used to it, “Tango, you alright?”

“I…” Tango took a sharp breath and released it slowly, eye still unmovingly staring at something, “Give me a few moments.”

Impulse recalled back to when they first met, and Tango had explained then how his eyes worked, though the exorcist knew that he was just giving him the bare minimum of details. Just an overview was enough to scare him, however, and so he always tried not to think about it. Ghosts he could deal with. A whole other plane of existence, maybe not, thanks. He prayed that Tango would be able to handle it. And for the most part, he could!

Or maybe, Impulse suddenly thought, it’s your optimism speaking up again.

Especially now hearing tidbit of the man’s past, Impulse was getting concerned. Young age, on the street and without a support system, that never ends well.

“Sorry about that, I’m back!” From the sofa, Tango, who had just snapped to reality, grinned sarcastically. He seemingly was oblivious to his roommate’s plight, “So yeah, no. I was alone. But hey, I’m here now, aren’t I? So it didn’t really matter!”

“O-Oh…” Was the only thing Impulse could say in response. He wasn’t sure what to think with the new information given to him, feeling as though they should be taking this whole “nobody there to help” thing more seriously, “Right…”

“Uhuh,” Looks like Tango mistook his indecisiveness for him being tired, since, in response, he said, “It’s getting late, go get some sleep. You look like shit.”

“...You’re right,” Impulse rubbed his eyes, more so to hide his growing concern than anything related to sleep. Maybe he should ask for more, get it all out there and see what he could help with. But something, maybe his own cowardice, was telling Impulse that he should just let it by for tonight.

And so, the exorcist nodded. Standing up from his spot, he began making his way back to his room, “Good night then…” 

Tango waved him away, muttering to himself about what he should prepare for breakfast tomorrow. Impulse sighed an exhausted sigh. It had been months and still, it felt like they barely knew a thing about each other.

He turned back one last time before closing his door, smiling slightly at the sight of Tango snuggling into a blanket on the sofa that could barely fit his body. 

Maybe, he hoped, Someday, we could actually sit down and sort it all out.

It was the optimism talking again. This time, he knew for sure. The door closed behind his back, leaving him in the darkness of his room, where Impulse didn’t hesitate to stop overthinking and jumped onto the bed. Tango was right, he was tired.

\----------------------------

There were three people in the flat that night, unlike the usual two. In his room, the exorcist was deep asleep, snoring lightly into his pillow. 

In another bedroom, an woodland elf laid in bed, wide awake and scared for his life.

Finally, a human, down an eye. He tossed and turned on the small couch, trapped by his own mind.

Unbeknownst to the three of them was the shadow standing outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you see me sprinkling backstory all over the place?
> 
> (Also, also, I do hope my chapters are in the right order since I suck at editing on this website. They are for me, but maybe I'm blind somehow. Anyway, let me know if you feel like the chapter orders are wrong to you.)


	14. Chapter 14

_Everything was burning._

_It was blinding, the flames, engulfing with it those cursed threads._

_But it was also engulfing him._

_He opened his mouth to scream, yet no sound came out._

_Hands emerged from the fire, blacken with soot. They clawed at him, pulling on the threads, one of the few not burning._

_“Why?” They said, “What is happening?”_

_He didn’t know what they meant. His mind was jello, unable to understand the words. He stared at the hands, blanked._

_The hands kept pulling on the taut strings, until, eventually, it severed._

_In an instant, they pulled back, disappearing into the fire._

_The voices continued._

Tango opened his eyes slowly, stone-faced. His impassive exterior strongly contrasted his mind, however. Racing, it reached desperately for a way to comprehend what just happened, to no avail.

_What the actual fuck?_

It had been _years_ , he shouldn’t be having these dreams anymore.

It was all Impulse’s fault, he decided. Ugh, why does the exorcist have to insist on sharing personal details? Impulse’s fault. All Impulse’s fault.

_Yeah, just as long as the blame isn’t on you, right?_ , the stupid, horrible, absolutely terrifying part of him said, and he pushed it down quickly as he always had done. He didn’t have the energy to deal with it right now. Not at…

Tango glanced up at the ticking clock on the wall, the only clock in the whole damn house, it seemed.

...2 in the morning, ugh.

Goddammit, he was doing so well. So well! He had a normal life, going to college, _living_! Then that stupid ghost possessed him, and he got his ass kicked. To top it all off, one of his eye was gone. _Again_.

It all just came crashing down. And now the nightmares were back, absolutely amazing.

His eyes gazed down from the clock, and he was so close, _so_ close, to waking up, brew a cup of coffee and never go to sleep again!

But then, he caught something suddenly moving in the corner of his eye, and Tango skipped a breath. Peeking over the pass-through window into the kitchen, a shadow. It was barely there, disappearing the instant he got a good look at it.

_It’s probably nothing_ , Tango reasoned with himself. He was still paranoid from his sleep after all, so it wouldn’t be much of a far-fetched, right?

A breeze passed through the room, and the blonde found himself wondering who had left the window open.

Wait...

That wasn’t possible. Impulse had made sure to lock all the windows, since his salt line couldn’t reach to them without being an inconvenience. Zed, too, had backed it up, saying that most elves have no idea how to lockpick (after them having to explain what that was) 

Tango closed his eye, trying to appear like he was asleep. He can hear faint footsteps. One, and then two. Any doubts that there was an intruder instantly vanished. 

He has to wake the others up.

_Fuck_.

\----------------------------

Zedaph wasn’t sure if he was going to sleep any time soon. 

Impulse had assured him that it would be alright, and Zed trusted him as much as anyone would trust a professional. Except Impulse wasn’t a professional yet, was he? He even said it himself, that he was just an apprentice.

Which was probably why Zedaph was currently lying face down on Tango’s bed, a ragged-looking toy animal beside him, his eyes very much wide open. The toy animal wasn’t his, of course, and he should probably do the responsible thing of not teasing Tango about it in the morning, but the temptation was there. Imagine his surprise when he had tripped (he should have known better than to be jumping on the bed), fell on to the ground, before spotting a shadow under the bed. For a second, he was going to leave it there, but curiosity won in the end.

The toy smelled old, and looked like it too. Cotton bulging out of the cracks and stitches unraveled from their place as if somebody had deliberately torn them out. Soft, it was covered with dust, and Zed wondered why it was under the bed in the first place. Maybe Tango had forgotten about it.

He recognized it as a dog, having seen some walking with humans before. This one was a primary black, with white and brown patches on its body. It was rather…cute, and it reminded Zed of some animals they have back home, though with much smaller teeth. Zedaph decided that he much preferred human’s dogs, if their appearance was anything to go by. Who knows? Maybe it will turn out to be a vicious, blood-drinking animal as well, but for now, he would be content with living in ignorance. 

So he placed the plushie beside him, pulled Tango’s teeny-tiny blanket (seriously, how could one sleep in that blanket. Then again, Tango was short) over himself, and closed his eyes.

Now, 3 hours later, and he still wasn’t falling asleep.

It was magic. It had to be. Why couldn’t he fall asleep? He’d never have this problem before. Why now? He had dark elves looking to kill him practically every other day back when he was still a prince. This one was just another to the list. So why? The only thing he could think of that were different from before was...

_The humans...?_ Zed nearly laughed out loud at that, because it was honestly silly what his brain could come up with. What about Impulse and Tango? If they died, they could just come back, right? After a few months of remaking a new body, just like how the elves would do it!

Right?

Zed recalled back to how Impulse strangely had reacted to the news of Cleo’s death. And he began to have a second thought on that idea. 

It would make a lot of sense too. How shocked Impulse was. How long Cleo has been gone. It has been 5 months, surely she would be back by now. He had thought it would take her a bit longer to reappear, since she was a human and all…

But what if she was never coming back? What if gone was just...gone, in this world?

Zed began to feel very constricted in his throat, and he quickly backtracked. 

_You don’t have enough information,_ he reminded himself, _don’t jump to conclusions. Ask Tango or Impulse in the morning!_

Right, he would ask them about it, and surely they would give him an answer. They were humans, after all...

It was then, that Zed realized he really didn’t know what he’d do afterward. If indeed that Cleo was gone forever, how would he cope? His whole plan on living in this world was for Cleo to come back and together, they would both go through it together. 

But now, it was just a possibility, yes, but...

He bit his lip, tearing up a little. Maybe the dust from Tango’s toy animal wasn’t good for his eyes after all. His hand reached for it, and he was about to throw it far, far away, to hopefully make the tears stop.

But his hands stopped before he could do any of that. Instead, in a movement that he couldn’t possibly understand, Zed brought the toy close to his chest and hugged it. In the back of his mind, he remembered that Cleo had once done that to him too, on a particularly bad day when his personal guards had all gone off adventuring, and it got unbearably lonely in the castle.

That made him feel a little better, if only for a moment, and he hugged the toy even tighter.

But, of course, he knew it wouldn’t last.

He couldn’t wait like this, the panic building up. If he receives answers in the morning, and it goes down south, there would definitely be a lot of panicking, and that generally wasn’t a good idea. At least if he got his answer right now, then he would have time to think, right? Maybe it would be better, with him calm and collected and hopefully not embarrassing himself…right?

He was calm, and this decision was a good one, and it was definitely the best choice, and Zed was very confused on whether he was making a rational decision or just his panicked mind making it sounded like a rational decision. Which, in turn, made him even more confused, since that was undoubtedly a panicked thought, and that made him question whether or not he should be questioning himself at all. 

Besides, he didn’t want to wake the others up at this ridiculous hour.

Zed really was a mess.

He wished Cleo was here.

_Alright, that’s it_ , the elf scolded at himself, _you are getting your fucker out there and getting some answers. You can’t just live like this._

Zedaph wondered if he had used cursing right this time. He would have to ask about it later.

...Or, he could do it right now, along with getting all the answers. 

And it seemed like somebody was granting wishes, since a sudden noise interrupted his thought. It almost sounded like somebody...walking, in the small sunroom next to his. His heart jumped out of his chest. He wouldn’t need to wake the others up after all! Sounded like somebody (probably Impulse, or, so he hoped) was already running about. He could just ask them!

_Completely calm. I’m completely calm. I’m making rational decisions,_ Zed tossed the toy animal back under the bed, silently thanking it for the help, before getting up on his feet. He tiptoed to the door and opened it, peeking out. 

What he had expected was for Tango or Impulse to be loitering in the kitchen, drinking whatever it was that they called coffee. Then, they could talk about things, and he would be happy.

Unfortunately, life was never that simple, it seems.

\----------------------------

His eyes flew open, and instantly, Impulse made a grab for his khakkhara, because that was honest what he slept with. 

The noises outside continued, muffled speaking (or yelling?), furnitures being pushed around. 

Something was wrong.

Impulse grimaced. He was sure the salt would work as well! Indeed, he had tested them on all kinds of ghosts and minor demons, and it had all worked! And it smelled infinitely better than the plant-alcohol-minerals concoction that most of his fellow exorcists used too. Purified salt, how brilliant was that? You could buy it anywhere and with only a few words of prayers applied to it, you could create a barrier with it. He’d had the sale pitches all prepared!

The exorcist resisted the urge to curl up on the floor, try not to cry, and then cry a lot.

_He_ was supposed to prove his teacher wrong by making himself useful. _He_ was supposed to be a pioneer for better smelling, easily accessible ways to ward off supernatural beings (or at least the bad ones). _He_ was supposed to retire young from the exorcism work and hopefully not end up like the rest of his relatives.

But right now, it looked like his dreams were crumbling to dust before his very eyes, and no amount of reverse Thanos snap was going to bring it back.

Impulse ignored that pitiful sight and instead focused on the bigger, much less tears-inducing problem. Mainly, the sounds coming from the living room, a rather painful mix of squeaking furniture, yelling, and squealing that sounded distinctly like Zed. It reminded him of something and oh, how he wished he could turn his mind off right about now, just like he should have turned that computer off when he had the chance.

Impulse sighed, opened his door, and jumped right into the madness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, you can see a representation of my writing process: focusing on the plot, focusing on the plot but with ANGST, and then all the ridiculous shit my brain could come up with at 2AM.
> 
> For Zed's part, I think I'm moving too fast with it, and now scares me.


	15. Chapter 15

_Shit_ , was Tango’s only thought as he was hiding behind the TV table. He had sneaked past the shadow earlier when their back was turned, a feat he still couldn’t believe he had done. Now, the problem that arose was breathing just softly enough to not make a sound. Oh, and the intruder was roaming around somewhere in the sun room, where there was a window leading directly into where Zed was sleeping.

Sufficient to say, shit wouldn’t cover half of the problem.

Curse this flat and its too fucking many pass-through windows (a whopping total of 2, can you even believe). Tango wondered if the intruder knew how close they were to their target. Hopefully, Zed won’t pull any idiot move, like poking his head outside.

Part of him still clung on to the fragile, ever-fading hope that this was just an innocent home break-in, but knowing his luck, he wasn’t about to count on it. Though that would explain the open window and Impulse’s salt not working. So maybe…

Oh, look, it was his old friend, optimism! Haven’t seen that little guy in a _long_ time.

Tango took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerve down. It was no time for jokes, he needed a plan.

First and foremost, he should go get Zedaph. The door to his room was closer to his current position, and it wouldn’t be fantastic if the prince got killed as he was trying to wake up Impulse.

_Zed, then to Impulse_ , Tango nodded in his head, _Alright_ …

He sighed a long, hopefully silent, sigh.

Tango moved from his spot, cringing at the rustling of his clothes. It was awfully loud, especially in the silence of the night. The darkness didn’t help much either as he found himself having to feel his way around the furniture. Thankfully, Tango had lived in the apartment for goodness knows how long, and it was significantly easier for him to get around. That was one advantage they have, at least.

He made his way closer to the door leading into his bedroom, looking behind him just in case of any danger. 

Only to be surprised when the door in front of him burst open.

“Please don’t kill me, but I really need some help!” Zed was yelling, and Tango felt a headache building up already. Waving frantically, he tried to tell Zed that now is _not_ the time! Unfortunately for them, Zedaph happened to not possess a little ability called basic communication skill, and therefore cannot understand him nor his body language.

The optimistic part of him was being awfully quiet right now. Geez, Tango wondered why.

“Zed, go wake up Impulse. We have a problem,” Words rattled out of his mouth before Tango could think further about them. In hindsight, it wasn’t a terrible course of action, but then he realized that separating was maybe not the greatest idea, “...Wait, Zed-”

But it was too late. The elf had already turned toward Impulse’s room, beginning his way there just as Tango felt himself getting grabbed and thrown aside, crashing into the dining table. His head slammed against the floor, went up, and then hit the floor _again_. At that point, it was pretty obvious that things were going wrong.

If only Zed hadn’t turn away, he could have warned Tango about the big fuck-you shadow appearing behind him, except maybe with a lot more misuse of curses. However, that was not the case, which was why Tango was groaning on the ground, headache in full effect as his mind struggled to catch up. He heard yelling, and high-pitched (distinctly Zedaph-sounding) squealing. His vision dotted, and it was hard to distinguish between the two worlds.

“Zed, _move_! Go get Impulse!” Tango gritted out as he frantically tried to blink away the threads and oh gosh, he couldn’t see what was happening. What the _fuck_ was happening? 

Grey threads intertwined, taking up the majority of what he could see. And then, coming into view slowly, a heap of midnight blue strings, which must be their trespasser.

The trespasser who had just thrown him aside just as easily as a ragdoll. If Tango have had the mental capability to curse, he would have, violently.

Tango sat up, making sure to not move too suddenly. He felt like vomiting, but thankfully managed to hold it in. Slowly, but surely, his senses came back to him, and he could hear what the others were talking about.

“...don’t hurt him, he has no involvement in this,” it sounded like Zed, the golden threads, kind of like straw. For whatever reason, Tango decided that he liked straw. Great, not even 5 minutes in, and he was already going bat-shit crazy

“Zed...” Tango grumbled, “Why the fuck...are you not getting the one person who could actually fight...in this goddamn house?”

That was a mouthful, and Tango gasped for air right after saying, his head pounding. Zed glanced at him with concern, or maybe it was an apology. He couldn’t figure out which with his brain threatening to burst out of his skull.

“I-I...uh…” Zed began, glancing at Tango, and then their friendly neighbourhood home invader, and Tango was really wondering what the elf was thinking just _standing_ there.

“You want to know what happened...right?” The still-just-a-pile-of-blue-threads shadow whispered, voice relaxed, a lilt to them. Zed froze.

At the very same moment, Impulse arrived, looking all gallant like he wasn’t dressed in teddy bear pajamas.

Tango felt his headache worsened.

\----------------------------

When Impulse burst out from his room, he did not expect what he saw.

He had nothing in mind, really, for what he was expecting. But it seems that life always finds a way to surprise you.

First of all, it was _dark_ , so he did the reasonable thing and turned on the light.

Now that he could see, Impulse took a glance at a wild Zed, staring into nothingness. Strange, but not too alarming.

Then he moved his head to the right and saw Tango, on his knees, leaning against one of the legs of the dining table. There was once a vase on that table, housing flowers they occasionally bought from a nearby flower shop. Now, with the table very obviously pushed out of place, the vase had fallen victim. Broken, it laid on the ground alongside some pitiful flowers, water leaking out from it. 

Tango himself looked like he wanted to be that vase, and that alone was enough to make Impulse realize that something had gone terribly wrong, or that they just ran out of coffee.

He chose the former option for now.

“What is going on here?” Was the first thing he said. To which he received a pained groan from Tango.

Zed, however, replied with actual words, “This is my problem, Impulse. You don’t need to get invol-”

“ _Bullshit_ ,” Unsurprisingly, it was Tango who said, though Impulse did note the strain in his voice, “It stops being your problem...the moment...I got thrown across the room.

“You weren't thrown 'across the room', stop being dramatic!” Zedaph protested, but Impulse couldn’t bring himself to care at the moment because _what?_

“Wait, wait,” Impulse waved, silencing both of them, “Who threw him exactly?”

And then he got his answer.

Impulse raised his staff just in time to block a sudden punch. The rings on the staff jingled, and he got pushed back from the force of the attack. In his mind, the exorcist thanked all the instinct training he had to endure. They were absolutely painful, but at least he got something out of them.

He heard Zed yell, “ _Stop_ , what do you think you’re doing?”

“What do you mean? I just got-” Impulse repeated, confused.

“No, not you!” Zed turned to his right, where there was...air, “Him!”

Impulse followed his gaze, still very much confused. Honestly, it sucked being the only normal one out of the three of them, because there was clearly something there, and he was just not seeing it. That, or Zed was insane, which could very well be the case.

Thankfully, Tango came to his aid (and also Zed’s sanity aid, though he might be less aware of that), “Impulse... _fuck_...there is something there. You can’t see it because you’re human,” clutching his head, he said with what sounded like a great deal of difficulty.

“Oh” said Impulse, like a smart person, "That's not good. It’s attacking me.”

“Yeah...no...shit.”

“Wait, wait, don’t attack! I want to talk with him!” Zed waved his hands between the two, “Please, I have too.”

“It attacked...both of us, if you haven’t been...paying attention,” rasped Tango, “Zedaph, I swear-”

“ _No_!” Zed repeated, gritting the words between his teeth, “I _need_ to talk. So silence yourselves!”

Tango and Impulse exchanged a look with each other. Impulse raised an eyebrow questioningly, and got a weak shrug back in response.

He glanced back nervously at Zed, still talking to...whatever it was that he was talking to. Supernatural, by the look of it (or not, haha, good job Imp, now is a great time for that). His grip tightened around the khakkhara, and the rings jingled slightly in response. 

Tango was on his feet, his body swaying slightly. His hands clung on the dining table. Impulse quickly moved to his side, still keeping an eye on Zed as he did so. 

“Uh...what’s going on here?” Impulse whispered to his roommate.

Tango grumbled something under his breath, before his voice became clearer, “Home intruder…opened the window to get into the house. You can’t see it...right?”

“Nope,” Impulse gave a little cheer inside his head. If the trespasser had gotten in through the window, then maybe his salt could still work, “I thought the windows were locked.”

“I’m pretty sure they were...” Tango nodded, “Lockpicked...?”

“Certainly possible,” said Impulse, “Can you describe what it is?”

Tango squinted his eye at the empty space that Zed was facing, “Looks like a big blob of darkness to me, though…” He shook his head around, hitting the back of his neck a few times.

“You okay?”

“Hit my head,” Tango sighed, “The fucker threw me against the table and I fell...Broke my favourite vase too.”

Impulse glanced at said vase, still broken. Water flowing from it dirtied up the floor, “I see.”

Tango ignored what he said, instead choosing to just stare right into his soul (as you do), and Impulse resisted the urge to back away. The blond blinked at him for a moment, and then, “Is it just me or...there’s two of you…”

“Huh,” Impulse blinked, turning to his side. You can never be too sure, “That’s a bit concerning-” He began to say, but he was interrupted as Tango collapsed into a coughing fit.

“Oh, _fuck me_ …” Impulse held him up as Tango leaned against his side, body sluggish,

“ _Definitely_ concerning. We’ll need to-

“Head fucking hurts…”

“Uhm...I know some first aid, but…” Impulse winced as he held his roommate upright, “We’ll need to go visit a doctor-.”

“ _No_!” His voice hitched, Tango struggled against Impulse, shaking his head vehemently.

“W-What-”

“I don’t-Not him! No...please-” Out of the corner of his eyes, Impulse could see Zed turning toward them in surprise. The exorcist promptly ignored that to focus on the problem at hand.

“Tango-” he called, “Tango! Calm down!”

“No, I-” Tango was hyperventilating, and even with the limited knowledge on health that he had, Impulse was pretty sure that wasn’t good.

“Okay, okay,” he tried saying, softly, as to not disturbed the other, “We’re not seeing any doctors. You’re fine, Tango. You’re fine.”

“I-I…” His breathing was getting slower, at least, and he had stopped struggling. Impulse held him close, still afraid that his friend was going to fall down any second, “I’m…”

“You’re alright.” 

Coughing a few times between uneven breath, Tango whispered, “...Oh gosh...what’s happening to me?”

“Seems like you hit your head pretty hard. Probably a concussion,” Impulse said. His eyes went to Zedaph, who had gone back to talking.

Or, more like, yelling.

“Tis’ loud,” Tango whimpered in his arms, “Fuck...I’m delirious…”

“Hm, need to check that up later,” At the sight of a widened red eye, Impulse quickly backtracked, “Not by seeing a doctor, of course! We’ll...figure something out.”

But the attention was already off him as Tango turned around and looked at Zedaph, hands still grabbing onto the exorcist for support. Apparently, injured Tango had a _really_ short attention span. 

The one-eyed man squinted at Zed, then to the space in front of him, and Impulse suddenly remembered that, oh wait, they still have a bigger problem to solve.

Mainly, their home invasion problem, and that was possibly an assassination problem as well.

Well, shoot.

Then, an idea suddenly came to mind. It _would_ be a great time to test out something. Besides, you can never be too safe, so just in case...

“Tango, stay right here, okay?” He whispered, detaching himself from the man. Tango swayed slightly, before his hands grabbed onto the wooden dining table. He shot Impulse a confused, almost distressed look.

The exorcist simply nodded at him, backing away slowly into the kitchen.

_Let’s see if this works._

\----------------------------

Tango wasn’t sure what exactly Impulse was thinking as the man backed away like a damn cryptid. However, he had much more important things to worry about, namely his rather embarrassing freak-out.

What was he even thinking?

Tango knew the answer to that. He wasn’t. His ears just caught the word “doctor”, and went into panic mode. Guess he just _really_ didn’t want to see Mr. Void.

Though he _had _to see him eventually, what was with one of his eyes missing.__

_Great_ …

His ears zeroed on what Zedaph was yelling about, although his head pounded in protest as he did. The elf was certainly making a show of himself, loudly arguing with…

He turned his head, expecting to still see a shadowy mass like before. Instead, his eye met with a lithe man, tall (taller than him, fuck), his eyes glittering and his ears sharp. From the ears alone, Tango could figure out what he was.

Ah, another elf.

He was smiling, which Tango did not like, for it showed all his teeth. He looked like a predator sizing up its prey as he faced Zedaph.

And Zed…Zed didn’t seem very happy.

“...how did she die,” Zed screamed, voice hoarse, “Tell me! I demand you tell me!

The other elf grinned, smile stretching his face in an uncomfortable manner. His eyes narrowing, he took a step forward.

Tango saw it after it was too late, and he blamed his stupid, incoherent mess of head. The elf took another step forward, before leaping toward Zedaph, a jagged knife in hand.

There were yelling, but he wasn’t sure whom it was from. Maybe it was from him. Was it him? He didn’t know anymore. He didn’t know _anything_ , and yet things just kept on happening _anyway_.

And now, here he was.

If it was a shitstorm before, it was a full-on hurricane now. And Tango wondered how he found himself smack dab in the middle of it.

He coughed, thoughts blurring together in his head until they were nothing at all. Everything hurt. Most unbearably was his bandaged side, where his eye once was. It stung, throbbing hotly, and Tango instinctively lifted his hands to cover it as he suppressed a whimper. 

Around him, the threads glowed a crimson red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, slapping Tango on the head: You can fit so much angst (and cursing) into this boi.
> 
> Honestly, this was suppose to be a Zedaph-focused chapter, I do not know what happened. Maybe I just like to write about colourful strings.


	16. Chapter 16

Once again, Zedaph was reminded of how annoying dark elves were. Their condescending tone, smiles that were all-teeth, self-satisfactory tones; all of that, plus their power over darkness, made them very easy to dislike. The fact that most of the assassins sent that were after him were dark elves didn’t help either.

But out of all of them, this one took the cake for fucking being just the worse. There, was that how you curse?...No?

Zedaph sighed.

“You’re distracted,” the shadowy figure said in a mocking tone, “Am I boring you, Your Highness?”

Zed glared at the other elf with as much anger as he could manage, “Maybe if you could just get on with it, I’ll be less inclined to drift off.”

“Get on with what, little princeling?”

“You _know_ what,” Zed gritted his teeth.

“Hm?” Even if he couldn’t see it, Zed could imagine that under the veil of darkness, the elf was smiling, “I’m afraid I have forgotten. Please, remind me.”

“You said,” it felt like he was giving in to some kind of game, and Zed didn’t like it, “You know how she died.”

“Who?”

That did it, and Zed couldn’t contain his rage, “Cleo! You said it only 5 minutes ago! How could you have forgotten already?”

The figure laughed, a high-pitched, expectedly annoying sound that Zed wished he’d never have to hear again. See, this was one of the reasons why he didn’t want to be prince. He didn’t want to sit in council and listen to this all day, it was perfectly reasonable.

“Oh right, of course!” Said the other elf in fake cheeriness, “Her! Your human pet, is that right?”

“She’s not a pet! She’s my friend!” Zed growled, “How dare you!” The figure fell silent, a satisfying sight in any other occasion other than this one. Zed let the stillness dragged on for a few seconds, before opening his mouth again, “Hey-”

He paused. The shadow shifted in front of him and dissipated. Stepping out from it was a young elf, dressed in a blue shirt with a weird “@” symbol on it. Instantly, Zed could recognize him, for it was the “man” who had approached him the day before.

The dark elf brushed imaginary dust from his shoulders, smiling as he did. In his right hand was a jeweled knife, which he displayed proudly for all to see. 

“You,” Zed said, “I knew it.”

“I suspect you would,” the dark elf shrugged, “It looks like dawn is approaching. Guess I’ll just kill you right now then.”

He took a step forward, but stopped when Zedaph yelled, “Wait!”

“Hm?”

“You-” Zed glared, “You said you would tell me how Cleo died! I don’t care if I died, just tell me!”

“Why would I?” The dark elf laughed, “I have a weapon, you don’t. It’s easy as that, little princeling.”

That made Zed pause. What was he going to say? He had no cards on the table whatsoever. He was going to die, “You…You don’t want to kill me!”

“And why is that,” At the very least, the assassin wasn’t going closer. Zed counted that as a win.

“You’re from the High Elves, aren’t you? They ordered you to kill me, because I’m the prince,” Words fell out of his mouth, and Zed hoped it sounded confident, “Well, I’m telling you, I’m not prince of shit!”

That sounded right. Zed couldn’t help but glanced over to where Tango was, just to see the man hunched over, trembling in Impulse’s arms. Well, if he wasn’t like that, Zed was sure Tango would be proud of him for finally managing to get it right.

The dark elf tilted his head, confusion cleared on his face, “Prince of “shit”? I’m pretty sure there’s no such kingdom.”

“No, that’s not-” Zed sighed, “Look, I’m not a prince anymore. I escaped, alright? And I’m not going back.”

“Regardless, you’re still-”

“Didn’t you hear what I said?” Zed screamed, channeling every emotion he had inside him into his voice, “I don’t know rats about what is going on with the war! I have been in the human world for months now, that meant years back home! Or are you stupid?”

“You-” the dark elf shook his head. For the first time, he seemed unsure of himself, “You still hold a high position. Killing you would mean-”

“What? You really think that?” Zed laughed, “I held no power, even back home. I’m sure they have recovered by now. They never needed me to begin with.”

Momentarily, Zedaph glanced down at the dagger. It shook, the hand holding white with how tightly it gripped. He grinned at the sight.

Shaking his head, he glanced back up at the dark elf, “Kill me if you want, but it wouldn’t do anything. I’m not a prince. I don’t sleep on warm beds, I don’t have servants, not anymore. I’m…” he stiffened, lips trembling.

And that was true, wasn’t it. He lived with the human for so long, but he was still in the process of coming around to it. Just the day before, he was complaining about how the beds here were bad compared to his back in the royal palace! The royal palace that he would probably never be in again. Even if he were to return, the elves would never accept an heir that lives among humans. 

That was right, wasn’t it. A plain, simple fact. He would never be a prince, ever again.

And he was alright with it. 

Zed smiled, “-I’m useless to you. Absolutely useless.”

The dark elf looked unhinged, eyes trembling with madness. There was definitely something more to it, Zed could see that. But it wasn’t his problem, so he didn’t care.

“I…” The dark elf began, “You…”

“Look, here’s the answer for you,” said Zed, “Just tell me how Cleo had died, and then kill me. Simple and easy.”

“Right…” the other elf nodded, “Cleo, your human...friend. I...can’t.”

“What?” Said Zed, “You don’t know?”

“I can’t tell you!” The dark elf snarled, “I will never tell you. You’re still an enemy, even if you’re not a prince, elf of the woods…”

“The woodland elves?” Feeling as though he should be defending his race, Zed shot back, “We’re a peaceful race! Most of us are merchants! You dark elves, however, all you do is _kill_!”

“A dark elf?” Voice regaining its lilt, the other elf asked, “Is that what you think I am?”

“What…?” Zed shook his head, “Whatever, I don’t care what you are! Just tell me, how did Cleo die?”

“Should I?” The elf tilted his head, grinning teasingly, “Let me think for a bit…”

“You-” Zed growled, voice hoarse. For a second, he realized how much he had been screaming, “How did she die? Tell me! I _demand_ you tell me-”

His voice cut off, and Zed blinked. Distantly, he could hear somebody screaming. There was a feeling of impact, like something had entered his body. He glanced down…

“If you're not a prince, then you shouldn’t be making demands now, should you?” The assassin grinned, “How silly of me, I didn’t even take into account that you could be lying. I’ll just play it safe. No hard feelings?”

Zed’s eyes widen at the sight of a dagger digging into his shoulders. His body was still numb, as if it hadn’t quite registered.

Then, wordlessly, he fell to the floor.

\----------------------------

He watched as Zed fell onto the wooden floor. His mouth opened, yelling.

And yet, Tango could hear nothing. Everything still hurts, though it was but a dull throb now. He was getting used to it, at least.

The intruder turned to him, smiling. Shit, was it because he was screaming? “Oh, what do we have here?”

Tango could hear somebody coming up to the two of them, but his attention went somewhere else. Zed laid in blood, hand gripping onto the dagger in his shoulder. 

His body shook, and Tango tried in vain to keep it calm. It was happening again, he could feel it. But why? Mr. Void had said it wouldn’t. Why was he feeling this way again? He didn’t even know much about Zedaph. If it was Impulse, that would be another case, but…

 _Oh_ , his mind whispered, _but you know why_.

He did. Of course, he did. It was because he was stupid. He was a stupid, pathetic idiot who grew to care too quickly, and he hated it. Why? Why was he like this? All it took was a few conversations, one or two laughs together, and oh look, he was getting attracted already.

Fuck. Fucking dammit. He tried so hard to stay away, and yet...

And at the end of the day, it was always the supernatural. The supernatural who get themselves and the people around them hurt. _He_ would get hurt, and this would happen, and-

Tango shook his head, focusing on breathing in and out. The glowing red threads swooped, draping over him, and he hugged himself closer, not wanting to see the colour.

 _Calm down_ , he thought to himself, _Calm down, calm down. Calm down_!

His breathing did become even, if only a little. Good, maybe for once, he could manage to keep it under control. One of his eyes was missing after all, so it should be easier, right?

Reality flooded back as his emotion stopped whirling around like they’re on a fucking tea cup ride, and finally, Tango could see what was happening again.

Impulse was standing there, a bucket of salt in his grasp. The exorcist was looking all over the place, confusion clear on his face. They made eye contact, and the exorcist shot a questioning look at Tango.

 _He couldn’t see it_ , Tango realized, and so he raised his trembling hands and pointed to where the attacker was. At the same time, he glanced over as well.

That was a mistake.

The red threads whirled, lashing out. Some of them cut at each other, the severed threads simply fading into nothing. He could do nothing to stop them as he sat there and watched the intruder twisting the knife in Zed’s body. The sight alone made him sick.

Zed was going to die. If the dagger was pulled out, Zed was going to die. No, no, no, he couldn’t let that happen. He needed to stop it. No-

This was exactly what he was hoping to avoid. It was a mistake. It was all a big, big mistake.

He was a mistake.

The pain flared up, and it was worse than usual, _much_ worse. His body throbbed, and Tango doubled over onto the floor, his eye, shut, tearing up in agony. 

The threads spun out of control, and everything bled into red.

\----------------------------

Impulse mentally cheered as he saw the salt he just threw not meeting the ground. Instead, it came into contact with something vaguely humanoid. That something hissed, jumping back from Zed’s body. The supernatural veil of illusion hiding it from humans lifted, revealing an elf, in all its sharp-eared glory.

Impulse expected as much. 

Zed’s description of his potential assassin had helped, and the elven prince made sure to not spare a single detail. Impulse had never heard of dark elves before that day — he should speak to his teachers about that— but with the information he had, he could at least know what he could expect in a fight.

A fight that he did not get...fortunately? The assassin yelp as he jumped back, clutching his bleeding right arm.

Impulse blinked in surprise.

The most he thought salt could do was the same as any other warding technique, warn the supernatural and make them back off. The most damage it could do was stinging a bit.

But from what he could see of the arms, it was completely covered in a diagram of long, thin cuts that dug deep into the skin. That would leave some scars for sure. Crimson blood seeped from the wound, soaking the skin red. By the way the assassin was gripping his arm, it must hurt a lot. Was this all over the body as well? Anywhere the salt came in contact with?

He resisted the urge to vomit. This was something he never wanted to happen, ever. It was a part of the reason why he chose a khakkhara staff in the first place instead of going with a bladed weapon that he knew his teacher would prefer. Any form of enchantments shouldn’t have done this. How-

“So this is what you exorcists are doing these days,” the assassin grinned, though one could clearly see the pain in his eyes, “Very well, then.”

Impulse wanted to shake his head and yelled no, wanted to say that none of his fellow exorcists would ever do this. They wanted the supernatural to go back to their own world, not hurt them! Even then, only the ones that had proved to be a danger would be banished. This, any of them with an ounce of respect would never do _this_. 

At least, not on purpose.

His eyes were so glued onto the bleeding cuts that Impulse nearly missed what the elf said next. The assassin turned to Zed, still bleeding out on the floor, and plainly said, “Your council ordered it, and the heroine carried out the killing. Will that answer suffice?

Zed, eyes still opened, only stared back in horror.

Impulse wanted to ask what that meant, but before he could, the intruder had already run to the window and jumped out. 

They lived 3-stories above.

“Wait!” Impulse yelled and ran after the elf. He quickly got to the window and peeked out.

Nobody was there. No bodies, either, thankfully. The elf had probably slipped back into the illusion hiding it from humans. Impulse sighed as he closed the window, locking it shut. For good measure, he closed the curtains as well, so anything slipping could be spotted easily.

The exorcist took a deep breath, then turned to Zedaph.

A pool was starting to collect, blood as red as humans’ soaking the floor. He rushed to the body and saw that the prince was still conscious.

“Hey”, said Impulse, “Stay awake, okay? We are gonna keep you alive.”  
  
“Don’t...do that,” Zed shook his head weakly, his breathing laboured, “Just let me...die...I’ll see you...in a decade...or so.”

“Oh , right, elves rebirth,” Impulse sighed. That took the stress off a bit. Only a bit though, “But...do you want to?”

Zed hesitated, and for a second, Impulse thought he had passed away. He was thankful to be proven wrong, “I fought so hard...to come here...Please...I don’t...I don’t want to go back there.”

Impulse nodded, “Then we’ll get you to the hospital-”

He paused, turning to Tango. Gosh, he forgot about Tango. He was hurt too, though thankfully not as severely. His roommate was on the ground, sitting with his knees hugged close. Impulse too to examined the area surrounding him as well. Thankfully, it seemed like nothing substancial was damage-

_Wait..._

Impulse squinted, not quite believing his eyes. Their flower vase was gone, leaving behind only small flowers in a puddle of water.

The dining table was still crooked due to Tango crash landing into it. The chairs were arranged the exact same as before. The painting on the wall, the boxes of paper towel on a desk nearby, practically untouched. But where there was a supposed to be a broken vase on the floor, there was just...nothing.

 _What…?_ The exorcist blinked rapidly, hoping that he was just seeing it wrong. He wasn’t, _What. The. Freak?_

Impulse shook himself out of his thoughts. He could figure it out later, for now, there was still Zed to worry about. 

And Tango...Tango was muttering something, and he only stopped when he saw the exorcist looking at him. Impulse gulped as Tango stared back with his only eye, as red as blood. He hadn’t gotten over the cuts, but it was no time for that now, “We need to get him to a hospital. But you…”

Tango frowned, hugging his knees closer, and looking like he was having an existential crisis, and really, Impulse couldn’t blame him. An attack was not something either of them had planned for on their schedule.

In a time like this, he could never predict how Tango would react. Mentally, he steeled himself for an outburst. It would made sense too, his roommate wasn't exactly in his right mind, head injury and all. However, Tango just muttered something too quiet for him to hear, “Huh? Can you repeat that?”

“I said,” Tango frowned, breathing heavily, “We can’t go to a human hospital. He’s...he’s a supernatural. An elf.”

“That make sense,” Impulse glanced down at Zed, who had closed his eyes. He was still breathing though, from what the exorcist could see, “We still need to get him help though. Hospital is my best bet, unless…”

He looked up at Tango, who took a deep, long breath. It reminded Impulse of someone trying to calm down, but he couldn't understand why. Tango wasn’t angry or particularly unhinged, from what he could see. Just to be sure, he examined the man again. Still, nothing indicated that anything was wrong, at least other than the obvious. Being attacked can shake one’s psyche, and Tango definitely looked shaken. Other than that, however…

He met his roommate in the eye again.

It still reminded him of the blood, the cuts, but Impulse shoved those thoughts down. Tango hadn’t done anything to deserve that. 

He had. 

Impulse pushed those thoughts down as well.

After a long, suffocating silence, Tango just sighed and stood up, “Supernatural have their own hospitals.”

“Really?” Impulse asked him. If there were, the exorcist guild certainly didn’t know. There were many things the guild didn’t know, now that he thought about it. That alone made him pause almost long enough to not wonder how _Tango_ , of all people, knew about hospitals for the supernatural. Almost.

“Yeah...” Tango sighed, seemingly resigned to his fate. Impulse was about to ask if he was okay, _really_ okay, but the man continued right when he opened his mouth, “See if you can stop the bleeding. I...I have a call to make.”


	17. Chapter 17

The dull light flickered, barely illuminating the hall. Alone, Impulse sat in waiting. He was told to stay back as the others, being the only one not sustaining injuries. Apparently, emotional trauma didn’t count. The doctor advised him to get a therapist instead. 

Impulse just shrugged at the suggestion. 

He had other issues to worry about other than the state of his wellbeing. Like how terribly he had handled the situation. Not only couldn’t he protect the others (despite being the only one who could actually fight), there was the whole thing with the freaking cuts. It wouldn’t leave his mind, however hard he tried to forget about it.

Impulse sighed.

“Tough time?” Somebody said. Impulse turned next to him to see a young man in a pair of round glasses. He couldn't help but think that he had seen this man (man? Or maybe not) around somewhere. He seemed... _very_ familiar.

“No answer? Alright then, I guess,” the man said, “Well, life gets at you sometimes. Take me for example. Somehow, I found myself in a completely different dimension this morning!”

“Uhm…” Impulse sent the man a worried glance, “Okay…?”

It’s a real pain. I hope the author won’t do this too often,” the supposed dimension traveler lamented, “At the very least, I get to see a new set of readers.”

He turned to the camera and waved. 

Impulse stared at him in bewilderment. It seemed that the library back home needed more updates than he thought. There was certainly no mention of different dimensions, or whatever theses “readers” are in the scrolls, “Who are you?” 

“Me?” The man stopped waving to smile at him, “Telling you my name would make things confusing. Maybe you should call me some kind of nickname. I’m sure I could figure something out. I was a bard back home, you know? Quite a famous one…”

He proceeded off on a tangent about his career. Realizing that he wasn’t going to get an answer, Impulse resigned to just nodding along, hoping that the conversation would end soon. He even shifted a bit away from the man for good measure.

Thankfully, his savior appeared a moment later, in the form of a nurse calling him over. The exorcist instantly stood up the moment he heard his name, bidding the man farewell in a manner he hoped didn’t sound too eager.

Instead of replying with a goodbye of his own, like anything with an ounce of politeness would, the man simply said, “You are not aware. Hopefully that means it will end happily.” 

_Huh?_

Impulse whirled around, blinking rapidly, “What does that-”

The man was gone.

He was just gone. The waiting room was empty, except for Impulse and the nurse, who cocked her head at him in confusion.

Noticing her stare, Impulse said, “There was somebody else here just now, right?”

She cocked her head even further. 

On another thought, maybe he should sign up to therapy. Clearly, he was starting to go insane.

The nurse must have noticed how panicked he looked, because she just laughed it off, “No, I did not see anybody here except you. Sure you don’t want a doctor check up as well?”

“Uhm, no.”

“Well then...” she nodded at him, and Impulse could see that she was not convinced, “Follow me. Your elf friend just awoken.”

\---------------------------- 

Zed noticeably brightened when he saw Impulse walking into the room. 

“Feeling better?” Impulse smiled.

“Very,” Zed said, giving his unbandaged shoulder a look, “How…?”

“The doctor here can heal people, I presume. Apparently he’s a supernatural.”

“I’ve never heard of any that could do this,” Zed said in awe, “There’s not even a scar.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“Of course,” the elf turned away from his shoulder to face his companion, “What about Tango? He hit his head pretty hard, from what I could remember. And you, are you alright? This is horrible. Nobody die, did they-”

“Wow, slow down,” Coming over, Impulse settled himself down on a chair beside the bed, “I’m fine, and Tango...I haven’t seen him yet.”

The nurse cut in, smiling, “Mr. Tek is well. The doctor had already checked up on him.”

“Thank goodness,” Zed sighed in relief, “And…the assassin?”

“Oh...uhm…” Impulse bit his lips, glancing at the nurse. She took a moment to catch on, but wasted no time to exit the room when she did, closing the door on her way, “The assassin escaped. He went through the window. You think he’ll come back?”

“It depends,” said Zedaph, “I already renounce my place as the heir. If the news were to spread around, then hopefully the assassinations could stop. But there’s also the matter of if my court accepts the resignation…”

“So...it’s complicated?”

“Yes,” Zed paled, “I’m sorry for getting you involved. I won’t again, I promise-”

“Hey now, it’s fine,” Impulse waved his hands, “It’s _fine_...at least for me. I can’t speak for Tango though…”

“He won’t be happy, and he shouldn’t be!,” Zed shook his head dejectedly, “I was so stupid. ‘Oh hey, not all supernatural are bad and prone to danger, they’re just like humans. Now watch as I bring you into grave danger!’”

“Don’t say that. He let _me_ live with him even though I literally beat him up when we first met.”

“You what?”

“It’s a long story,” Impulse shook his head, “Really, Zed, it’s fine.”

Still looking unconvinced, Zed reluctantly nodded, “Alright then.”

“Speaking of Tango, I have to listen to him complaining all the way here.”

“I’m sorry-”

“Not about the supernatural. He just kept going on about how much of an idiot you were for...uhm…nearly breaking his door and yelling loud enough for the whole darn neighbourhood to hear. And right when there’s an intruder too,” Impulse cleared his throat, “Yeah...what was that about?”

“Oh that!” Zed chuckled, “He’s right. I have to admit, that was a dumb thing to do.”

“But like, what gives?” Impulse crossed his hands together and leaned his back on the chair, “Tango told me that you said something about needing help. He thought it was just about the intruder but I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have to yell if that was the case.”

“Oh...uhm…” Zed sucked in a shaky breath, “I don’t…”

He looked around nervously, hands tightening around the white blanket of the clinic bed.

“Oh…” Impulse widened his eyes, “I-If you’re not comfortable, you don’t have to tell me anything-”

“It’s-“

“Gosh, what am I doing? I’m an idiot!” Impulse groaned as he buried his face into his hands in shame, “Nevermind, I’m sorry. You don’t have to say anything. It’s okay! I’m-”

“Impulse, it’s alright!” Zed interrupted, “I wanted to talk about it anyway. That’s why I asked Tango for help, you know?”

“Right...okay,” Impulse shook his head, “I’m still sorry. You wanted to talk to _Tango_ about it. I shouldn’t have pushed.”

“No, no,” Zed laughed, “Actually, I’m glad that I could talk to you about this. I just thought you weren’t awaked then, so I don’t want to interrupt. Tango is...fine, and of course, he wasn’t asleep. But he’s also kind of…”

Zed trailed off, and Impulse waited patiently for him to continue. He had an inkling to what Zed was going to say.

The elf sighed, fidgeting with the white shirt the clinic had provided, “It’s hard to talk to him. I feel like that of you two, he’s the less emotionally stable one. Also, you already know roughly about the situation, so it would be less awkward…”

He glanced at the exorcist, eyes unsure. It reminded Impulse of a puppy, and how could he say no.

“Well, I’m glad you think so,” Impulse shrugged, “Ask away. But I can’t really explain things like politics if that’s what you want.”

“Politics? No, no, the one back home is enough,” Zed smiled. However, it dropped from his face only a moment after, “No...I want to ask you about...uhm…”

“Take your time.”

“...Mothercraper,” Zed murmured under his breath, and Impulse didn’t have the heart to tell him that no normal human would ever curse like that, “There’s just no easy way to say this, is there? I should just go for it...humans die, right?”

Impulse blinked, taken back by the question, “Yes. Easily too, I think, compared to supernatural. Like, we die from old age, diseases, the whole list.”

Zed bit his lips nervously, “Elves do die as well. In much of the same ways as humans, I think. However, when an elf died, they just kind of...”

“You come back afterward,” said Impulse, “Yeah, I figured.”

“After a decade or so, in elven time,” Zed explained, “We just...reform, with our memories intact too. The thing is, I know a lot of people who have died, and I get to meet them again only some years later. It’s still sad of course, but they _came back_ …”

Impulse blinked, “Is this about your friend?”

“Cleo,” Zed mumbled, voice shaky, “She’s a human, but she somehow found her way into the elven realm. I’ve known her ever since I was young...She died shortly after helping me in going to this world.”

Impulse bowed his head “I’m sorry.”

Zed stared into his eyes, his mouth moved and shaped itself, but no sound came out. Impulse, unfortunately, mistaken it for Zed not hearing what he had just said, “Zed? I said I was sorry.”

“No...I heard that,” Zedaph’s gaze dropped down to his hands, still holding onto the blanket, “...That’s the problem, isn’t it.

“...Huh?”

“I said,” the elf gritted out, “That’s the problem!”

Impulse eyed him nervously. He had a feeling that he knew where this was going, and so he waited patiently for Zed to figure it out as well.

And he did. Zed whirled around to face the exorcist, what looked like contempt in his eyes. Of course, Impulse knew that it wasn’t directed toward him, but it was still pretty scary, “That’s the problem, isn’t it! You’re saying sorry! Why are you sorry? If she’s coming back then why are you sorry?”

Impulse remained silent, letting Zed just vented it out. 

“Why? Why? Does it have to be her?” Zedaph cried to nobody in particular, “Why? She never did anything wrong. Why her?”

Impulse leaned him closer and patted the elf on the back gently.

Clutching his head, his eyes scrunched shut, Zed continued to vent, “It was them, I knew it. They-They...They killed her! I…”

He sobbed, and Impulse held him close, paying no mind the loud yelling coming from the other. He just hoped Zed wouldn’t feel guilty about it later.

Eventually, Zedaph goes from yelling and crying to quietly sniffling. Just waking up from an injury, he didn’t have a lot of energy to begin with, and what he had was used up in the outburst. Tears and snot wetted the clinic’s blanket. Ignoring that, Impulse rubbed the elf’s back in what was hopefully a soothing manner.

He was glad, actually, since just yelling it all out like this was much better than Tango’s tried-and-terrible method of bottling things up until he couldn’t handle it anymore. At least Impulse knew what the problem was this time around. Although that brought a whole other set of problems, because now that he knew what the problem was, Impulse had to think about what he would do with it.

He wished that he could fix things. He wished that he could bring back Zed’s friend, and make everybody happy. But, as an exorcist, Impulse knew very well that any form of raising the dead would yield nothing but disappointment, with a lifetime supply of misfortune on the side. 

So for now, all he could do was comfort Zed, and held onto the fact that he had seen (and banished) Cleo’s ghost. Ghosts only appeared when a vengeful spirit refused to pass on. He was sure that Zed already knew that. Saying it out loud would only make it worse.

“I’m sorry…” Zed whimpered as he clung onto the blanket, “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m acting like this. I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

“Nonsense,” Impulse shook his head, “You’re hurt, and scared. It’s completely fine. Don’t worry.”

“I don’t...I shouldn’t,” Zed hiccuped, “I shouldn’t burden you like this. It’s my problem. I just...I don’t know what to do. I thought she would be here with me, but…”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“I hope so. I just wish I can figure this out a bit faster.”

“Listen to me again, closely,” Impulse gently said, “ _We’ll_ figure it out. I’m not gonna sit by and not help after this.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Look, this is something most humans have to go through too. You can find all sorts of help around. Better help than me, even.”

“Really?” Zed looked up at him, eyes shined with hopefulness. Impulse felt himself practically melting at the sight.

“Of course,” Impulse wondered how Zed had been living in the human’s world without help, “And I’m sure there are supernaturals who could help, if you’re uncomfortable with humans

Zed laughed a little at that for some reason. His hands fiddled with the dirty blanket, before bringing it up to wipe some of the remaining tears off, “I’m sorry for that. I kind of knew, beforehand, that this would be the case. I-I guess I thought I was ready to hear it.”

“It’s not your fault,” Impulse shook his head, “It’s hard to be ready for stuff like this, even for us humans.”

Zedaph whispered shakily, “Is there any way you can get over this and just...forget?”

“I don’t think that’s how it works,” sighed Impulse, “But...maybe with time, and a good support system. Maybe things will get easier.”

“I hope so,” Zed chuckled, “Good support system…”

“Yeah, support system like...friends!” Impulse hesitated, “And...family? That would be a bit difficult in your case...

“I guess friends are my best bet then.” Zed chuckled, “Would that include you?”

Of all the things that could be said, Impulse did not expect that blow. He took 10 points of psyche damage, “I mean, d-do you want it to include me?”

Zed nodded, smiling eagerly.

10 more points of psyche damage were dealt to Impulse, and he was knocked down, “Of course, I-I would be happy to help!”

Zed lit up, and Impulse did not regret what he said, which would made it the first in a long time.

”You are very kind, Impulse,” Zed said as he tried to keep the hiccup down, ”Are all humans like you?

”As I said before, Zed, humans shouldn’t be grouped in as all the same,” Impulse replied as the blush crept up his face, “...B-But thank you. I’m glad you think that.

The atmosphere of the room brightened gradually as they sat there and continued talking. And the chapter would have ended there, on a happy note, except…

\----------------------------

“Speaking of,” Impulse grinned as Zed tried his hardest to explain why he couldn’t curse the right way, “I wonder how Tango would have reacted if you had talked to him instead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a complicate feeling about this chapter. Ideally, it would be great to have some downtime for the characters to all interact, but there are already way more chapters than I intended to write in the beginning, so I want to condense it down some more. Hopefully, this won’t reach the 20 chapters marker. Still, this is a bit fast-paced for me, and I wanna make sure it’s known that the grieving process is just beginning (I want to emphasis this, it’s just beginning) for Zed. You can’t just get over things like this right away. That hope this chapter make clear. 
> 
> Fortunately for me, I don’t have experience in this sort of things. Let me know how it goes. Feedback are always appreciated.
> 
> For the beginning part (before Zed appeared), it’s just a reference to something. I won’t say what it is. If you don’t get it, then don’t worry, it won’t matter to the plot at all for now. If you do though, then nice!


	18. Chapter 18

“Very badly,” Zed lamented as he buried his face into his hands, “He would react very badly. I should just leave.”

“You don’t know yet,” Impulse protested weakly.

The corridor felt cold as they sat on the rainbow-coloured plastic chairs, waiting. The nurse who had taken them there grinned with a manufactured smile before leaving them behind. No words were exchanged. They could only assume that the door next to them would lead to Tango’s room. After 15 minutes of standing around, not knowing what to do, Zed decided for both of them by slamming the door open.

He was quickly chased out. Apparently Tango was still unconscious.

“This is bad,” whispered Zed.

“Don’t say that.”

“I thought they said he was well. Is being unconscious, ‘well’, for humans? When did he pass out anyway? He was fine when I last saw him!”

“Shortly after we arrived at the clinic. You were already taken away by then,” Impulse sighed, massaging his forehead, “He _did_ hit his head pretty badly…but I’m sure he’s going to be okay.”

“That’s...” Zed rubbed his eyes exasperatedly, “Being unconscious is never okay, Impulse, unless humans have some passive healing magic I don’t know about.”

“Not, but...we do heal...with time.”

“That’s just natural healing!” Zed tapped his foot before standing up, “I’m not doing this. There are assassins, elves with _extremely_ dangerous magic after me, and I’m not getting you guys killed. Not after Cleo.” Zed shook his head furiously, “I’m leaving.”

“ _What_?”

“If I stay around, you guys might get hurt again,” Zed glared at his hands, “I can’t let that happen.”

“If there’s danger, I can fight-”

“No, Impulse,” Zed had already turned his back to the door, “I’m leaving, and that’s the final.”

Impulse remained still, not because he had nothing to say, but because he was finding it hard to talk in general, _He’s right, you can’t fight. You can’t do anything-_

“H-Hold on!” The exorcist yelled, “You’re leaving, just like that? Couldn’t you at least say goodbye?”

“I think he would appreciate it more if I just go.”

“All his talk about not wanting to be near supernatural or trouble, and yet he still let you stay. Even after you said there are assassins after you too,” said Impulse, hoping he sounded confident, “You can’t say he doesn’t care.”

“No, I’m saying that he shouldn’t have to care,” Zed whirled back, “And he won’t have to, when I _leave_.”

“Then I’m going with you!” said Impulse

Zed stared at him like he had grown a second head, and honestly, Impulse had a growing suspicion that he might have. That would explain the growing mess that was his mind, “Uhm...no?”

Impulse sighed, “Okay look, I have my own share of problems. Following your logic, I would be leaving right now too.”

“You’ve encountered an assassin before?” Zed cocked his head in genuine curiosity, “Are you some kind of royalty too? I didn’t know humans still work like that.”

“I’m not royalty,” Impulse quickly said, “Actually, I’m pretty sure that my family is the farthest one from being royalty in the hierarchy of things. But even so, I’m still an exorcist...apprentice. I still have ghosts, ghouls, all sorts of creatures after me!”

“Do they sneak into your house and try to kill you in your sleep?” Zed asked with slightly less curiosity and a lot more bite, “Because I don’t think so.”

“...Fine, they don’t,” for the 5th time that day, Impulse sighed, “I’m still going with you, though, if you’re leaving. Else it would make the things I said before sound dumb.”

“Maybe that’s because they do,” huffed Zedaph as he turned his back again. Impulse watched him take one step, and another. Unhelpfully, his brain was too busy screaming to help him figure out what to say next.

 _Freak_ , Impulse silently thanked his brain for the coherent thought, not that it was much help, _Freak. I wish I could swear_.

But no-o-o, because his teachers would beat him up hearing that, so Impulse had to content with just _screaming his mind off_ while trying to maintain a calm exterior, not that he was succeeding in that either, “Zed, wait, please-“

Cutting him off, the door behind them creaked open and walking out was a man in a light green lab coat. Impulse instantly recognized him from that sight alone. It was the head doctor of the clinic. The one who had completely healed Zed. Impulse wondered what kind of creature he was, to not even leave behind a scar after treating somebody. Must be useful to have those kinds of power.

The doctor glanced between them, smiling serenely. Impulse wondered how silly they must be looking, “You boys certainly made a racket.” 

“Oh, uhm...hello?” Nice, Impulse, you sound totally calm, “Sorry for the noise.”

Zed just stared at the man. 

Noticing that, Impulse quickly explained, hoping to diffuse the awkward situation, “Zed, this is actually the doctor who treated you. The one with the healing ability.”

“Oh!” Zed jumped up in surprise as he beamed at the man, “You’re the one. What _are_ you?”

Impulse coughed, “Zed, I don’t know how the elves does it, but that’s not how humans greet people. Maybe a hello-”

“Hello,” Zed grinned innocently. _Very_ innocently. Impulse couldn’t help but think that the elf was messing with him, “What are you?”

Instead of getting angry like Impulse thought he would, the man calmly tucked his hands into his pocket, as if he was used to this. Impulse wished he could have half of that control, “Apologies, I should have introduced myself first. I’m the owner of this place…” There was hesitation, before he continued on, nodding his head at the door, “And legally, the guardian of your friend in there, Tango.”

“You’re the one?” Said Impulse, “He mentioned you a few times. Mr. Void, isn’t it?”

“Please, call me Xisuma. I’m not that old. Tango just likes to say that to annoy me,” the man looked up to the ceiling, closing his brilliant green eyes, “And so far, he’s succeeding.

Zed looked the man up and down, and turned to Impulse, “Do humans have children at this young of age?”

Impulse blanked out, “P-Pardon?”

“It’s an adoption, actually,” Xisuma cracked out a laugh, “Are elves familiar with the concept?”

Impulse blinked, before looking back at Zed. The elf still had his illusion, making his ears round and human-like. His eyes were a bright purple, but it wasn’t _that_ noticeable. How could Xisuma have known? Maybe Tango had told him about it.

“...Oh, I know what that is!” Zed said after a moment of thought, clapping his hands proudly. That was enough to break Impulse out of his own mind as well.

Xisuma simply grinned. Impulse honestly wondered what he had been through to be completely chill like this, “It wasn’t an easy decision, but it’s for the better. I needed to keep an eye on him,” Then, unexpectedly, the man sighed, “Goodness knows how that boy keeps getting into trouble.”

Impulse mentally facepalmed as he saw Zed took a tentative step back, closing into himself. Xisuma wouldn’t have known, but it was still hard to not get annoyed.

“That’s the reason I came out here, actually. I wanted to talk,” casually, Xisuma gestured to the rainbow coloured chairs, “You might want to take a seat for this.”

Eyeing the doctor, Impulse did as told, settling down onto a bright yellow chair. Zed followed suit, albeit with some hesitation. Xisuma smiled as he went to the other wall where a lone red chair resided. He sat down, facing them, “I couldn’t help but overheard what you two were talking about.”

The two remained silent, unsure of what to say to that.

The doctor sighed, turning to Zed, “Am I right to presume that you were planning to leave?”

Zed nodded, “My business is my own, there is no need for anybody to get involved.”

“Hm…” Xisuma eyed Impulse, making exorcist gulped at the attention, “And what about you?”

“I’m...not sure yet. I’m planning to leave with Zed, but…”

“You are _not_ leaving with me.”

“I already said, Zed. I want to help-”

“I don’t want your help!” Zed took a deep breath, “...Please, Impulse, just stay here.”

Impulse pursed his lips, “That’s not what you were saying before. I thought you wanted me as a friend.”

“Well I’m saying it now,” the elf hissed, “I’m sorry, I...wasn’t in my right mind back then. But now that I have the time to think about it, this is what I’ve chosen. So _please_ , Impulse.”

With no rebuttal to that, Impulse gave one last worried glance at the elf, then turned back to Xisuma, “It’s complicated. I...haven’t decided on anything just yet.”

“That’s what I thought,” was nonchalant reply, and Impulse was just about to ask what that was supposed to mean when Xisuma continued on, “So I have a proposal for you.”

“...Huh?”

“I would like to hire you,” said Xisuma, “Ideally both of you, but it seemed that Zedaph already had some other plan.

“Me?” Impulse pointed at himself, “You need an exorcist? If you have some kind of ghost or demon hunting you, I could just take care of it, you don’t need to pay me or anything. There’s the UEC.”

“Ah yes, the UEC,” Xisuma rolled his eyes. 

_What-_ , Impulse blinked, taken back by the reaction.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time to ponder as Zed interrupted his thought, “What’s the UEC?”

“The United Exorcists Confederation,” Impulse opened his mouth, an explanation already recited in his head, “Basically all exorcists work under them. They’re the one paying us to do all this stuff. It’s run by-“

“They’re good then?”

“That’s up to debate,” Xisuma interjected, “But nevermind that, I’m not hiring you for any exorcism. I’m hiring you because you know how to fight, and you’re close with Tango.”

“And?”

“I’m hiring you to watch over him,” the doctor shrugged, “As I said, he gets himself into troubles way too much. I would prefer it if he doesn’t come to any harm.”

“Troubles? Tango? Or we talking about the same person here,” Impulse tilted his head in curiosity, “To me, he seems fine. I thought he had it all together, especially before we came.”

The doctor shrugged, “Yes, and a ghost was possessing him when you two first met.”

“Well-” Impulse cut off and raised an eyebrow, “How do you know about that? Did he tell you?”

“I have a lot of connections.”

 _What the freak does that mean?_ Impulse wanted to yell, but manners managed to hold him back. Well, manners, and the lingering fear of getting punishment. Instead, he chose a much more passive approach, “Uhm…what? And I still don’t understand why you can’t just hire a handler?”

“About that, it would be simpler if Tango would let me help him. Unfortunately, he isn’t exactly fond of me,” Xisuma chuckled, “I don’t blame him. It’s completely my fault that he is this way. There are consequences to my action and I’ll take full responsibility for it,”

 _Wow, that...doesn’t answer the question...at all_ , Impulse wasn’t sure why he was mentally snapping like that. Maybe it was the stress getting at him. Hopefully it won’t manifest into anything physical, “Okay, then…what?”

Zed glanced at him, before turning to the doctor, “I really don’t understand humans, or any supernatural that lives in this world, but I don’t think anything you just said was even remotely answering the question.”

“ _Subtlety_ , Zed,” Impulse hushed.

“So you don’t understand him either,” the elf shrugged, “That just proves my point.”

Thankfully, Xisuma didn’t get work up about it. The doctor simply grinned, amused, “I apologize, it’s a habit. To answer the question, Tango would rather me stay out of his business. Any attempts on my part to watch out for him, he just bats away. Believe me, I _have_ gotten him bodyguards.”

Zed tilted his head, looking at Impulse again for an explanation. 

“People who guard somebody, mostly important people,” Impulse whispered to him.

Zed took a second to process, “Oh, so like a personal guard. I have a few of those.”

“I’m sure you had many, as a prince,” Xisuma smiled. Once again, Impulse wondered how he knew that, “But I don’t think you’re actively trying to make them quit. I gave up after the third bodyguard got arrested. Tango called the police on them.”

“And…” Impulse placed a hand on his chest, “You think I would fare any better?”

“You’re already living with him,” the doctor repeated, “You can fight. He tolerated you getting this close to him. It makes sense.”

“I...have some experience protecting people, mostly against vengeful ghosts out to get them,” said Impulse, “Never long term though. Besides, what am I even guarding him against?”

Xisuma sighed, “I can only tell you that if you accept the offer.”

“That’s…” _Not fair!_ His mind screamed, “I...kinda want to know what I’m getting into beforehand, if you don’t mind.”

“I do mind actually. Accept this offer and I’ll tell you,” Xisuma shrugged nonchalantly, “Or not. I’m not forcing you to do anything. Just thought you would be interested. Plus, I _am_ paying you.”

He reached into a pocket of his coat and pulled out a check, handing it to Impulse. 

The exorcist felt his eyes widening at the number, “Th-This is…”

“That’s a big number,” Zed commented as he leaned in to read, “Is it a lot? I don’t know anything about human’s currency.”

“It’s not just a lot,” Impulse reread the number again, “It’s _a lot_.”

Zed cocked his head in confusion, “What?”

“Yeah, it’s a lot of money.”

“Alright then, don’t know why you do that weird emphasis thing.”

Xisuma gave him a knowing smile, “So? What do you think?”

“I-I…” Impulse paused, “Could I have some time? I don’t-”

“I’m sorry,” Xisuma sighed, “This is urgent. He’s already lost one, I can’t allow anything to happen to the other. I have to know if there’s a need for somebody else to watch over him.”

 _Oh no_ , his mind panicked as Impulse glanced down at the check, his eyes examining over and over again the number on it.

_If I accept this, then I can’t go with Zed._

_But the money, this is enough to finish researching on the salt. With this you could get a license, and then become a master exorcist. You know? The thing you wanted to do in the first place. What you came here for?_

_I promised Zedaph I would be there for him._

_You also promised your family you would help them. Besides, he already said he doesn’t need you to._

Impulse sneaked a look at Zedaph. Turns out he wasn’t as stealthy as he would like to think. The elf caught his eye and simply raised an eyebrow, “So are you going to accept, or…”

“But you-”

Zed insistently shook his head , “Honestly, I’ll be fine. I survived before meeting you guys.”

 _See? See? He doesn’t need you,_ Impulse struggled to come up with an argument against that. He really tried, but it was hard when the one you were arguing against was your own mind.

“This is different, you didn’t know about your friend before.”

“You said there are plenty of people willing to help me with that.”

“There is, but…”

 _You don’t have to follow him around to help him,_ Great, now he wasn’t even debating with himself anymore, he was just thinking up more reasons to say yes, _you just need to explain how things work, he isn’t dumb, just out of his element_.

Impulse glanced down at the check again, his hands clutching it so tight the paper was starting to crinkle. The number on it mocked him, and yet he couldn’t look away. But he eventually had to, regardless, as Xisuma was speaking again, “So, what do you say? Remember, you can always refuse.”

“I…” Impulse hesitated. Zed was staring at him, but he couldn’t read the elf’s expression at all. Was he happy with this? Sad? Or maybe he just didn’t care. 

Xisuma tilted his head, the knowing smiled still there. He just kept on smiling. Impulse wasn’t sure he liked that smile anymore. 

And yet…

Impulse opened his mouth, the words at the tip of his mouth. Looking at the doctor, he said, “I’ll take this offer.”

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Zed turned away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tango ain’t showing up yet, but how do y’all like the new character?
> 
> And sorry, this chapter might (certainly) be very confusing. Definitely not my proudest work


	19. Chapter 19

“I knew you would say that,” Xisuma clapped his hands together, face betraying no surprise. 

Impulse couldn’t help but grimaced at that. It was unreasonable, he knew. Maybe the doctor was just naturally that vague and eccentric. He shouldn’t judge someone like that. But still, another surge of anger rose up inside him, and he struggled to keep it in check. He must have done a poor job of that too, since Zed was sending him some worrying looks.

The doctor kept on smiling through Impulse’s predicament. Their eyes met, and it felt like he was reading his mind, “Something is bothering you.”

“No-” Impulse winced, “Well...yes. A lot is, actually.”

“If you have any questions, ask away.”

“It’s not like you will answer them,”

“I will answer what I can answer,” Xisuma corrected, “But there are things that even I don’t know...and things that you shouldn’t know.”

“And...how do I tell the difference?”

A shrug was his reply, and Impulse fell silent in defeat. Beside him, Zed nudged gently, purple eyes swirling with pity, “Maybe you should still ask him. I’m sure some of it will be answered.”

The exorcist raised an eyebrow in disbelief, but nevertheless still turned back to the doctor. He might as well try, “Okay then, let’s see...what kind of supernatural are you?”

Xisuma eyed him disapprovingly, “Maybe once we get to know each other more, I’ll tell you.”

Impulse frowned at that, but pressed on, shooting questions in rapid succession, “When did you open this clinic? Do you run this clinic alone? Are there any other ones like this?”

“First question, a long time ago. Second, in a way,” Xisuma smirked at the exasperated glares sent his ways, “Third, I’m sure there are more hospitals like this one around the world. They might even be bigger than mine. However, this is the only one in this town as far as I know.”

“...That’s only one question that you really answer,” Impulse resisted the urge to groan, “I don’t think you’re even taking this seriously.”

“That’s because it’s hard to take these questions seriously,” Xisuma waved his hands dismissively, “I could easily lie for all of them. They're elementary questions.”

“You lied?” Zed asked.

“I didn’t, actually,” said Xisuma, “I’m quite nice that way.”

“You didn’t lie, but you also didn’t tell us the truth either,” Impulse retorted, “So I don’t think ‘nice’ quite fit the bill.”

“Hm? I can assure you, I _am_ very nice. To prove it, I’ll even promise to answer your next question, whatever it is,” Xisuma’s smile grew larger. Zed and Impulse eyed each other, both unsure of what to do.

“It’s worth a shot,” the elf shrugged.

“Then let’s try it,” Impulse pursed his lips, trying to think up a difficult question,“...How did you and Tango met...and is it related to why he has so much problem with the supernatural?”

“I expected you would say that,” The doctor shifted in his seat, “With Tango...sadly, we met under less than fortunate circumstances. I dare say it plays a big part in how he is nowadays. There are some other factors as well.”

“I’m...thinking of something more specific than that,” they were on the right path, if Impulse could just get the doctor to tell them a bit more-

“Ah, I’m afraid I can’t,” said Xisuma casually, “You see, this information isn't only mine to share, they are Tango’s as well. I would hate to say anything he doesn’t want me to reveal. If you’re really curious, maybe you should ask _him_ instead.”

There was no way Tango would willingly tell them anything about himself, especially something so personal. Impulse knew that, and he had an inkling that Xisuma did as well, judging from the tiniest hint of smugness in the doctor’s posture.

“So, long story short, you’re not going to tell us anything about that either?” Zed leaned back into his seat, disappointed, “Oh, come on...not even a little bit?”

“I _did_ tell you a little bit-”

“This is getting nowhere!” Impulse grumbled as he glared toward the doctor, “Forget it, there is just one question I want an answer to, and I think I deserve a full explanation on this one.”

Xisuma hummed, nodding, “Yes?”

Impulse took a deep, frustrated breath, “What am I protecting Tango from, exactly? You said I could know if I accepted your offer, and I have.”

“That’s a loaded question,” Xisuma raised an eyebrow, “As I said before, couldn’t I just lie to you?”

“I don’t think that’s wise, seeing that you’re the one hiring me to guard him,” Impulse glared at him, “I can’t do my job if I don’t know what it is. So tell me, and I’ll hold my trust in your ‘niceness’.”

Xisuma began laughing at that, and Impulse found that he liked the laughter no less than the smiling. Out of respect, he didn’t comment on it, nor comment on any other traits he found hard to stand.

But if Zedaph was trying to discreetly kick the doctor, he wasn’t about to stop him either. 

“This is going to take a long time too, so you should get comfortable if you’re not already,” the doctor waved at them, though probably more specifically to Zedaph, who was pouting at his kicking defeat, “For your question, Impulse, there are two parts to it. One is the ‘who’, quite obviously. The more important, though, part is ‘why’,” Xisuma looked between them, “...Say, somebody attacked you last night, right?”

Impulse raised his eyebrow “I don’t see how that would matt-”

“Just answer the question.”

It wasn’t his story to tell, so Impulse waited for Zed to speak, “It was an assassin. Basically, he stabbed me and threw Tango aside, which made him hit his head-”

“Uhm, about him…I have something to add,” the exorcist interrupted, sending Zed an apologizing look, “There was this thing...Tango, after he hit his head, I was mentioning something about hospitals, and he just flipped out.”

There was the briefest flash of...something, on the doctor’s face. A jolt, his smile tightening. It was so subtle, and was gone so quickly that Impulse wondered if he had just imagined it.

“Oh,” the doctor only said, “That’s quite unfortunate then. What happened after that?”

Zed continued, seemingly not aware of the tension, “Impulse threw a bunch of salt on the assassin, which made him run away for some reason. I blacked out after that.”

“Salt,” Xisuma repeated, slowly turning his head to Impulse, “Care to enlighten me on that?”

“Just normal salt enchanted with prayers,” Impulse shrugged in what he hoped was a nonchalant attitude. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that convincing when his voice was trembling, “Something I’m trying out at the moment, as a part of my apprenticeship. It hurt the assassin enough for them to retreat.”

“For all my years of work, I’ve never heard of salt harming anything except demons,” Xisuma squinted his eyes, his tone almost mocking, “And even that, only low-ranking ones. It shouldn’t have any effect on elves, of all things.”

“I saw what I saw. I’m not blind,” said Impulse, a scowl set into his face.

Xisuma sighed, “I’m not saying you are. There could just be a...variable, another factor that you weren't aware of. Did you see what kind of wounds the assassin sustained from your salt?”

The silence in the room became suffocating, not helped by the dim light of the clinic. All of a sudden, the small details of the corridor were jumping out to Impulse. Like how the light briefly flickered. Or the shining, recently cleaned floor. Or the muffled beeping sound of machines inside Tango’s room. 

All that, and it still wasn’t enough to distract him away from the moment at hand. Impulse steeled himself as the image of the attack flooded back to him. Subconsciously, his hands drifted toward his right arms, gripping onto it tightly. 

“Impulse, what happened?” Zed whispered to him, “I didn’t exactly see it. Was it that bad?”

Xisuma, too, nodded at him in a small gesture of worry, “You wanted an explanation, remember. I can stop if you’re not comfortable.”

“No!” Impulse exclaimed, “I-I mean...no. It’s fine, just...not what I was used to.”

“Yes?”

“On his right arm,” Impulse pointed to his own, “There were a bunch of cuts that went all the way around the arms. Pretty deep ones too, and they were all bleeding. It was…I...I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Xisuma squinted his eyes, “Yes. I don’t think your salt could have done anything like that, wouldn’t you agree?”

“No, but I haven’t done that much research on elves in general, so I can’t say anything for sure...”

“You won’t have to,” Xisuma crossed his arms together, finger tapping methodically against his skin, “I know where those cuts are from.

“What?” Impulse would like to say that he reacted very appropriately, remaining in his seat, but sitting more upright. It was much politer than the scenario in his mind, where he stood up, screaming his lungs off.

Zed looked curious as well, but with a lot less shock, “I haven’t seen nor heard of anything like that either.”

Xisuma looked between them, “Do you want the long answer or the short one?”

“We’re here for an explanation,” Impatiently, Impulse said, “So tell us everything.”

“...Very well,” said the doctor. Then he pointed at Impulse, “I’m sure Tango has told you about his eyes...or, should I say, eye, now.”

“He can see strings and stuff,” the exorcist nodded, before whispering to Zed, “He can see strings and stuff. I’m 50 percent sure he’s insane, but it has worked in his favour so far.”

Zed stifled a laugh, “Ah, I see.”

“What he said is true,” On the other hand, Xisuma didn’t seem amused by their antics, “He can see those threads with his eyes, but his power allows him to do...certain other things as well. Things such as cutting those strings.”

“I’m sorry,” said Impulse, “But uhm...so?”

Xisuma sighed, “Did you ever lose anything? Any furniture?”

“Huh?”

“Did you?”

“Well, the most recent one that I can remember is a flower pot. It fell on the floor, then suddenly disappeared,” Impulse furrowed his brows, “But I don’t see why that matters.”

“That is his power in the work. Let me simplify it for you two,” Xisuma held up two of his fingers, “Think of this world as having two realities. One is our physical world, which you interact with on the daily. And then there is the second reality, where you can see the fate of something; how they will turn out, what they will become...a destiny, of sort. These fate manifests as strings of life, and these are what Tango is seeing.”

Impulse nodded, “Okay…?” 

“His power allows him to interact with those strings as well. More specifically, he has the ability to sever them, effectively ending a fate short. This could lead the physical counterpart to essentially self-destruct as the world has to fix itself around the sudden change in a destiny.”

It must have been a long day for Impulse, because he could barely make out any of the words, “Huh?”

“No?” Xisuma snapped his fingers impatiently at them, “It could show in the physical world as a building collapsing, glass breaking, or just objects deleting themselves from existence completely.”

“Like...that flower pot?” Impulse hesitantly offered.

Xisuma nodded, and Impulse kept the fact that “no, he still hadn’t quite gotten it yet” to himself. At the very least, he had a vague idea where their vase had gone. 

“Uhm...what?” Thankfully, Zed spoke up for both of their thoughts, providing Impulse an opportunity to not voice his confusion. 

Massaging his nose tiredly, Xisuma said, “You know what? I’ll just say it. Simply put, those cuts on your assassin, they are from Tango, who was probably in a panic, and accidentally severed the string making up the assassin’s skin. With its strings severed, the skin disappeared, resulting in cuts appearing on a physical level.”

Impulse trembled at the image that was made in his head, “So basically you’re saying he’s responsible for those cuts.”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying,” Xisuma stated. Impulse wished he could detect a hint of uncertainty in the doctor’s voice, but there were none present.

“This is confusing,” Zed rubbed his head, “This is really confusing. It sounds very cool, but also confusing.”

“Tell me about it,” Impulse sighed, “I still don’t think I quite get it yet.”

“You wanted an answer, and I provided. Remember, you do not need to _‘get’_ anything,” said Xisuma, “You just need to protect Tango, that’s why I’m telling you all this. He has a very powerful ability. The cuts are just the least of it-”

“How?” Impulse winced at his own volume, “T-Those cuts you’re talking about can bleed out a normal person. You’re saying he can do more?”

“A lot more,” Xisuma drummed his fingers, “Take for example...a building. With that power in hand, you could, say, cut the string from the foundation of the place, damaging it. With that, you could potentially bring the whole place down without doing much at all. And let’s not even begin to think about what that could mean to a human being.”

Impulse gulped. He still hadn’t understood it fully yet, but hearing the doctor’s ominous tone had already made him nervous for some reason. At the very least, Zed seemed to be reacting about the same way.

“And the fact that Tango can’t constraint that power, meaning anything within a certain radius is at risk when he loses control...and you get the idea,” Xisuma nodded when he saw their reaction, “His power is extremely destructive, and there are people who are looking to gain it for themselves. _That_ would bring us to your original question.”

“I’m supposed to fight them off?” Impulse winced at the thought. This sounded...very much not in his comfort zone. 

“I’ll give you more details as they come along, since even I do not know all of it yet,” Xisuma nodded, “But remember this, his eyes are the source of the power. So protect them...him first and foremost.”

“Okay…?” Impulse took a deep breath, “Okay...uhm...what did I get myself into?”

Zed clapped him on the back, “But at least you’ll get a lot of money, right? Back home, that means you get a lot of status, maybe even more than royalty!”

“I don’t think that’s how it works…”

Xisuma chuckled at their actions, “If you want, Zedaph, I extend my offer to you too. It’s better to have two people helping in this-”

“Uhm...no, maybe not,” Zed said that in a light tone, but his intense stare at the doctor told a different tale, “I already have my own problems to deal with, thank you. I’m not getting involved in this.”

Xisuma met his stare head on, eyes glinting dangerously, “...Are you from certain? I may be able to extend a hand in regards to your...situation.”

“You sound like the merchants back home,” Zed said plainly, “I would rather not get help from anybody like you.”

“Do not so hastily judge,” Xisuma murmured, before turning his gaze at Impulse, “You will need a way to contact me too, so I’ll just give you both my business card.”

“Me too?” Zed pointed to himself, “I already said, I don’t want your-

“It’s not for my clinic, but I think you’ll find some value in it as well,” Xisuma extended his hand, in them are two green business cards.

Impulse hesitantly grabbed one, examining it. After seeing that, Zed did the same, pouting as he did. 

What Impulse was expecting, if not the clinic, that the card would be for a normal business or a company. That was what he got...in a way. In the front was a number, which Impulse expected was his way of contacting the doctor. 

On the back was Xisuma’s information, including his place of work. His eyes widened as he read what was written on it.

  
XISUMA VOID  
Supernatural’s Safety Association  
**President**  
  
\----------------------------

For Zed, it was almost comical to see how wide Impulse’s eyes got after he read the card. Clearly the exorcist recognized it.

“You’re…” his voice shaking, Impulse stared up. As if on cue, a mysterious breeze passed through the corridor, making the doctor’s coat bellowed behind him, “You’re the president of the SSA?”

“The SSA?” Zed repeated, trying out the words. As expected, they meant next to nothing to him, “What’s that?”

“You’ve never heard of it!?” Impulse said, only realizing what he said after Zed frowned at him, “...Nevermind, of course you haven’t. The SSA deals in all things supernatural. It’s small, but pretty well-known. Plus, they’re one of the few supernatural organizations with an actual license from the government-”

“How does a human government know about the supernatural?” Zed raised his brow skeptically.

“They do, it’s hard to hide things from surveillance,” Impulse said absentmindedly, his focus zeroing back on Xisuma, “This is amazing! My teacher _hated_ the SSA!

“That’s a pleasure to hear,” Xisuma sighed.

“He keeps complaining about how annoying you are,” Impulse beamed at the man, “But in reality, everybody could see that he’s just jealous because your ideas are more popular than his. I wish I could make him that angry one day!”

“I see that my reputation precedes me,” Xisuma proceeded to ignore the rambling Impulse, choosing to instead focus on Zed again, much to the elf’s displeasure, “This is the kind of help I am offering. If you’re still looking to leave, then the SSA could help you get started with your life here.”

“Really?” Zedaph asked, a hint of distrust laced his voice. He wasn’t about to deny help, but Xisuma hadn’t exactly left a promising impression.

“It’s part of the job,” The doctor shrugged, “Helping supernaturals adapt to life here, along with many other things. We can help you find a place to live, even provide protection against your kind, since you clearly need it.”

“That...would be amazing,” Zed admitted. 

“But are you sure you want to go in the first place?”

Zed cocked his head, “Of course I do! Tango wouldn’t-”

“If you think Tango wouldn’t want you around,” Xisuma smiled, “Then let me share a little secret. He cares more than he lets on. Tango is sentimental like that. He also gets attracted _very_ easily.”

“That’s…” Zed shook his head, “I should let them be. They have their own thing going on already, I don’t want to intrude.”

“Make your own choice, I’m sure you have other reasons as well. Simply, I’m advising you to ask them first before finalizing your decision. It might make you change your mind,” Xisuma shrugged, glancing down at his watch, “Speaking of, it’s about time Tango wakes up.”

“Really?” 

Both of them stood up at the same time, though one with a lot less enthusiasm. As Zed fidgeted with his fingers, Xisuma nodded in his direction one last time, “If you still decide on going off on your own, you can talk to me at the front desk. We’ll see what we can do.”

The doctor walked down the dim hallway, footsteps echoing until they faded into nothing. Once again, the two of them were alone. 

Impulse took the lead first, walking up to the door. There, he waited for Zed to get a hold on himself, sharing his own thoughts in a quiet tone, “You could always...not talk to him?” The exorcist offered, “If you’re not comfortable.”

“No,” Zed sighed, “I just...I thought I have it all figured out. But then it got even more complicated.”

“Yeah, it happens.”

“I’ll just…” Waving his head dismissively, Zed goes up to the door as well, “I guess I’ll just see how it goes.”

Impulse nodded, opening the door. A few nurses passed through them outside, leaving the room empty except for the patient on the bed, who winked at them. It didn’t work, seeing that he only had one eye.

At a glance, he didn’t seem...too bad. Not beaten up. Not covered in bandages. With his normal clothing still on, the only things that have seemingly changed about Tango were the bandages around his eye being replaced by a simple medical eye patch, connected by two lines of elastic cord.

Zed couldn’t help himself, he let out a small exhale of relief.

“They didn’t have the pirate kind, so I had to use this one instead,” was the first thing Tango said, noticing where their attention was directed. Impulse chuckled at that, while Zed gave only a tight-lipped smile that didn’t manage to reach his eyes.

“So…” Tango waited for them to stop, before saying, “What did I miss?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, this chapter probably shave off a few years of my life. I’m not very happy with it, but after numerous rewriting, it’s better to just put it out there and move on. 
> 
> Here, I bought to you, Tangy’s power! Granted, it’s not a very good one. My understanding of it had never been put to words before, so I have a hard time writing that part. And I made it up without any direct inspiration from outside sources, so I can’t just say it’s similar to how this or that character’s power either. Have to say, that’s the main part about why writing this chapter is so bad, along with...everything else.
> 
> Let me know how it goes, and if y’all are not understanding anything. Sorry for my terrible writing X(


	20. Chapter 20

It was a good minute they talked, mostly about how Tango was feeling. Quite expectedly, he had some _very_ strong opinions.

“Terrible,” Tango said promptly, “I hate this place.”

Impulse tilted his head, “Is that why you have that outburst before?”

“What outburst?”

“...Nevermind,” Impulse sighed. He should have predicted that memories weren't exactly the priorities when your brain was damaged.

Then, it devolved into lighthearted jokes, mostly from Tango himself, occasionally with Impulse butting in. Zed remained quiet, hoping that nobody would notice whilst he did. Unfortunately for him, Tango was awfully perceptive for somebody with half his vision gone, and he noticed the mood very quickly,

“So...what’s the deal here?” Interrupting the normal conversation, he wagged his finger in the elf’s direction.

“W-What?” Said elf answered.

“You have been quiet ever since you two came in. So what’s the deal?”

“I-I don’t know what you're talking about,” Zed furiously shook his head, “I’m fine-ACK, don’t slap me!”

“Hiding problems is supposed to be my thing,” Tango said after he swatted Zed on the head, “Spill.”

“You should,” Impulse nodded along, “I think that would be better...unless you don’t want then that’s-”

“It’s not like that!” protested Zed, “Just...I already made my decision, so why would I say anything?”

Tango rolled his eye so high it reached the ceiling, “What? It’s not like we can make you change your mind. What is there to be afraid of-”

“Yes, that’s it!”

“What?”

“I’m afraid you’re going to make me change my mind!” Zed flailed his hands in the air, “M-Maybe not on purpose. But you’re going to say things about how it’s fine if I stay, which you proba- _definitely_ won’t, but-”

“Wow-wow-wow,” Tango cut him off, “What? What is this ‘me telling you to stay’ thing?”

Zed stared dumbly. When his words finally caught up to him, his hands flew up to cover his mouth.

“Zed…” Tango said slowly, “Are you leaving?”

There was no reply from the elf, so Tango turned instead to Impulse, who was looking increasingly more awkward as the conversation went on. The exorcist jumped when he noticed the attention had gone to him.

“Uhm…” Impulse dug for what to say at the bare bottom of his mind, “He...might be?”

“What the fuck does that suppose to mean?”

“He could be? Have plans to?” Impulse looked away, “It’s complicated.”

“Too complicated for you to even explain what’s going on,” Tango rolled his eye, “What? Is he going to space or something?”

“He’s not going to space,” Impulse replied automatically. Then he blinked, “...Or maybe he is. Zed, are you going to space?”

“What is space? Is it far from here?”

“Yes?”

“Then I might.”

“So you _are_ leaving,” Tango looked between the two, folding his hands together, “Could have just said that.”

Sheepishly, Zed scratched his neck, not meeting the other in the eyes, “I’m thinking about it. It’s for the better, less dangerous for you two. And you don’t like the supernatural so…”

He glanced up, fidgeting with his fingers.

“...Okay then,” Tango shrugged, “Good luck.”

Pausing, Zed did a double-take, “...That’s it?”

“Huh?”

“That’s all you have to say?”

“Well, yeah?” Tango cocked his head, “Were you expecting anything else? It’s your choice. If you want to leave, I’m not about to stop you.”

“I-” Zed choked on his words, his voice fading into a high pitch whisper, “I...I don’t…”

“Speak louder, I can’t hear you.”

Impulse sighed. Scooting closer to the white bed, he leaned in beside Tango, whispering, “Tango, maybe read the mood.”

“What am I supposed to fucking read?” Tango hissed back, “He made his choice. I’m not going to force him to stay.”

“Yeah, but like…” Impulse sighed, “Nevermind.”

“ _What_?”

Ignoring his roommate, Impulse sat back closer to Zed and patted him on the back, “Zed, it’s your choice. We can’t choose anything for you, so you will just have to decide on your own.”

“I…” Zed whispered, “I still think leaving is best.”

Impulse looked away. Tango raised an eyebrow at the both of them in an “are you kidding me” manner, “You two are a fucking mess.”

“Sorry about that,” Zed chuckled, “I’ll be out of your hair soon.”

“Good luck with that. I feel bad for you, really. It’s complicated to move all of a sudden.”

“Really?”

“Yeah?” Tango raised his fingers up as he counted, “Remember, you would have to move all your stuff, and cancel your rent with the landlords. Besides, you still know way too little about human-”

“What’s a rent?” Zed interrupted, cocking his head like a chicken.

Tango stared at him blankly“...A rent is when you pay somebody for living on their property and stuff.”

“Like with...money?”

“... _Yes_?”

“Wait,” Impulse glanced at the elf, “Didn’t you mention before that you don’t know how money works... _several_ times?”

“I did,” Dumbly, Zed stared back.

Quite comically, you can almost see the mini explosion inside their brains after that. That is, if you weren’t one of its participants. 

Tango seemed like he wanted to go back into dreamland, Impulse didn’t fare much better. Zed was just confused, his face devoid of all emotion other than a dumb wondering look.

“Zed...how have you been living there the whole time?” Tango started, speaking slowly as if to a misbehaving toddler.

“I-I thought it was empty, so I just moved in,” Zed scratched his head, “That’s a pretty common thing back home. Travelling elves finding abandoned houses and living in them. Is it not the same here?”

“...I do not have the energy to deal with this,” Tango fell back onto his bed, his head spinning till he was met with Impulse’s lovely, absolutely devastated face, “You explain!”

Impulse sighed, sounding as though he hadn’t slept in 15 years, “You don’t have to pay for houses back in your world, Zed?”

“Yes, we do, for occupied houses,” Zed shrugged, “If there’s nobody else using it, who do you pay?”

“Well, in our world, it’s always assumed that a home is occupied whether or not there are people in it.”

Zed winced, “Am I going to get beaten up like if you take things without paying back home?”

“Well, no, if you haven’t been caught.”

“Yeah, how exactly _haven’t_ you been caught?” Tango pointed to Zed, “The landlords checked their house every month!”

“I don’t know?” Zed shrugged, “I just make everything an illusion of how it was originally, because I didn’t want any assassins knowing that I was there. I thought they were watching me because once in a while, I hear things coming in and out the house. You’re telling me that’s your...landlords?”

“Yes!”

“Oh,” Zed said, “This is bad.”

“Are you sure you can be on your own?” Tango squinted at him, “Because what I’m predicting is you committing a crime the moment you leave.”

“Don't be dramatic, it won’t be that quick,” Impulse sighed, “But he’s right, Zed, I don’t think it’s wise to be on your own.”

“I won’t be on my own. I’m going to ask X-”

“You want help from him, of all people?” Impulse questioned.

Zed frowned at the thought, “I don’t, but I also don’t see any other choice.”

“Well…”

Zed paused, waiting for the exorcist you finish speaking

“You can…” Impulse gulped as he looked between the two in front of him, hesitation in his voice, “You can...stay with us?”

A beat of silence passed, before...

“... _What?_ ” Zed exclaimed, and he heard Tango echoing that sentiment as well.

“Alright, look!” Impulse waved his hands in front of him apologetically, “Maybe that’s too sudden, but hear me out. You can stay with us, and pay for it by...I don’t know...helping me with my exorcism, like Tango is doing. It could certainly work. _And_ , we can make sure you don’t participate in any criminal activities.”

“I don’t know about that, Impulse…” Zed trailed off, his eyes facing in Tango’s direction. 

The other blonde was looking at Impulse, an equally surprise expression on his face. Judging from that alone, Zed didn’t think that there was any way Tango would agree to this.

There was just no way.

Right?

“He could stay in the sunroom.”

Zed widened his eyes in shock at what he just heard. His thought blanked out for a second, and he barely caught what came next. Apparently, Tango had hit his head harder than he thought.

“It’s a bit small though, and currently occupied by a bunch of plants,” Tango sniffed at the air, intoxicated with the smell of grass, “Though that probably won’t be a problem for you. We would have to install a bed too though.”

“Do the landlords allow three in a flat?” Impulse asked, seemingly much better as hiding his surprise than Zedaph.

“Probably. They’re pretty lax about these sorts of things.”

“Uhuh. Bring them gifts too, just to be sure-”  
  
“Hold on!” Zed yelled, interrupting both of them, “This isn’t...I haven’t…”

Impulse looked at him, before bringing his hands up to cover his mouth, “...Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, we should have asked if you wanted to stay in the first place. If you just want to leave, that’s okay-”

“No!” Immediately, Zed retracted, “I mean, that’s not...I’m fine with staying with you guys! It’s...other things.”

“...Like?” Tango tilted his head, “Me? I’ll just stay very far away, and we’ll be fine...maybe. It’s certainly better than you going to jail.”

“I don’t want to force you to do that!” Zed covered his face, shaking his head, “And there’s still the matter of potential assassins out to get me. I know I told you that not all supernatural attract danger, but I’m going to have to admit right now, I was a hypocrite-”

“Well, yes.”

“Tango!” Impulse hissed.

“What?” 

“-It _is_ going to be dangerous,” Zed said, “It is going to be dangerous, and I’m not getting you two hurt again. Humans...humans only die once.”

“Zed...” Impulse lowered his gaze, “Zed, when I said that, it wasn’t because I want you to think we’re some kind of fragile being-”

“But you are!” 

“We’re not-”

“You _are_!” Zed screamed. His hands clenched, shaking, and he stared directly at Impulse, “One of my friends is already dead, please, I don’t want to experience it again!”

That got the conversation dead. The three of them fell into awkward silence, glancing between each other, waiting for somebody to talk. But the machines around the room kept on beeping, and it was much easier to focus on that than the moment at hand.

Alas, Zed sighed, no longer able to handle the suffocating air, “Sorry, I...don’t think any of us is ready for this.”

“Obviously,” Tango said, “I just woke up from a concussion.”

“Yeah, I had been worrying all day about a bunch of different things, and I’m still not ready,” Impulse trailed off, “I guess there’s no easy way to do this.

“...No, there is,” Zed pointed out, “Remember? Xisuma said he could help me.”

“You-” At that, Tango sputtered, his body jumping like he had been shocked, “You talk to Mr. Void? About _what_? It better not be m-”

“It’s mostly talk on what we’re going to do after this,” Impulse said. Zed couldn’t help but shoot him a curious look, but decided to remain quiet about the deal. Impulse didn’t seemed very happy with it anyway, maybe he just didn’t want to think about it.

Tango wasn’t convinced, “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Tango frowned at them, “Be careful with him. He is a conniving bastard.”

“I’m going to him though,” Zed goes on, “He runs the...SSA? Apparently it’s some kind of supernatural help group. Impulse seems to really like it.”

“It’s well-known, so I would assume it to be trustworthy,” Impulse shrugged.

“I’ve heard about it as well, but I have never really paid attention to those kinds of stuff,” Tango continued, “Just...from personal experience, he’s not exactly the kind of person you should rely on.”

Zed nodded, “Alright.”

“Yeah.”

They looked between each other.

“...Wow, we’re _all_ a fucking mess,” Tango remarked.

Impulse looked down at his lap, his eyes drooping, “I’m sorry, Zed.”

“Hm? What for?”

“I thought I could help you, and yet…”

Zed blinked for a moment before his face broke out into a gentle smile, “You have helped me plenty. I owe you my life.”

“But...that’s…”

“I’m going to keep in touch, how about that? If I need help, I’ll definitely inform you,” Zed grinned, pulling his pinky up, “Promise? Cleo told me this is how you do it. Is this some kind of magic binding?”

“Uhm...no,” Impulse chuckled, “Most of the time, it’s just trust binding it.”

“Trust…” Zed raised his pinkie a little higher, “That’s good enough for me.”

Impulse raised his own finger and they linked fingers. 

Tango rolled his eye at the sight, faking a gagging noise with his mouth, “Are you all done being mushy, because I’m kind of tired over here...”

“You’re going back to sleep?” Impulse asked incredulously.

His roommate answered by falling back into the fluffy white pillow, “Give me 15 minutes...at least.” The other two glanced at each other, before bursting out laughing. Tango glared at them.

“Sorry, sorry,” Still grinning, Impulse waved to Zed, signalling him to take his leave as well. The elf reluctantly stood up after another second of laughter, “We’re leaving!”

Tango rolled his eye, “Laugh all you want. I’ll cook you something real good tonight.”

“We’ll be in the waiting room,” Impulse said, shrugging off the threat as he pulled at the door, “Don’t take too long!”

Then, he slammed the door shut, ignoring Tango’s muffled yelling on the other side.

\----------------------------

Together, the two of them shuffled into the waiting room. Rows upon rows of chairs stacked together, and Impulse made for one of them. Zed, on the other hand, had spotted Xisuma waiting for him, and he walked over to the doctor, “My decision stays the same.”

“I could see that. It is a pity, much easier with two people keeping him safe,” Xisuma smiled, but Zed couldn’t spot any kindness in it at all, “Would you be leaving on your own, or would you like some help from the SSA?”

“It would be great if you could help me. I’m not exactly an expert on this world.”

“We’ll take care of your housing and budget, alongside anything else you need then like protection against your kinds,” Xisuma stopped smiling, “Just one thing. Do you agree to the terms of the SSA?

“...Excuse me?”

Xisuma cleared his throat, as if he had expected Zed to say that, “The term will be as follows. We’ll be taking care of everything for you. You just need to go along with it.”

“Uhm...alright then,” Zed shrugged at the strange words, “I’m not going to get killed, am I?”

“Of course not,” the smile was back again, “I’ll have to keep you here for the day, finalizing the paperwork and such. For now, there will be a temporary accommodation set out for you.” The doctor turned away, talking in whispers to the front desk attendant.

 _He’s a conniving bastard_ , Tango’s words echoed back to him, and Zed couldn’t help but get a bad feeling about this. He glanced back at Impulse. The exorcist didn’t seem to notice him, his eyes in another direction.

“Here,” Xisuma turned back, there were a pair of keys in his hand, “For your room. We’ll set you up with your own house tomorrow.”

“Thank...you?” Zed scratched the back of his neck, “I-I mean, thank you, truly. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.”

“I’m sure you don’t,” Xisuma pointed at the attendant, “You can go to your room whenever, just ask him.”

The attendant, a bald man with a greying beard, nodded at him.

“Thank you,” Zed once again said.

But the doctor was already gone, his back to the elf, heading to the elevator. He was gone only a moment after.

“Don’t mind him,” the attendant said absentmindedly as he typed away on the keyboard, “He’s busy. It has been quite hectic, these couple of days.”

“Alright then…” Zed hurried to Impulse, who sat on a chair looking around suspiciously, “Impulse!”

“Zed!” The exorcist greeted him,” Sorry, just looking out for any dimensional travellers. How did it go?”

Ignoring the first part, Zed smiled sheepishly at him, “He said there will be a budget and housing set for me. I didn’t really understand the rest.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Impulse sighed, “Anyway, Tango just texted me. We’ll be leaving soon. Are you taken care of?”

“There’s a room for me here,” Zed raised his keys for the exorcist to see, “A temporary one. I’m going to move to a new house tomorrow.”

“Okay, that’s good then,” Impulse glanced at him up and down, before turning his head to the elevator, “Talk of the devil…”

“I’m no demon,” Tango huffed as he made his way to them, “Did you get your bits sort out, Zed?”

“Yes, as far as I know.”

“Good. I’m going to talk to Mr. Void tomorrow. Make sure he didn’t trick you into something,” Tango squinted, “Did he say anything particularly weird, confusing?”

“Everything is weird and confusing to me in this world-”

“Answer the fucking question,” Tango said cheerily. Hearing that, Impulse made sure to back away from the blonde. It was clearly something Tango shared with his guardian, the ability to be chirpy and unhinged at the same time.

“Uhm...” Zed tapped his chin. There were a few things, like that “term” Xisuma had talked about, but maybe it was just him, “No…”

Tango nodded slowly before he glanced over to Impulse, “When is the next bus leaving? We need to get home soon to prepare for dinner.”

Zed jolted at the statement, eyes automatically drifting out a nearby window. The sky outside was a colourful mess of red and orange. Black shadows of birds flying in the distance toward the setting sun. 

He hadn’t noticed the time at all, the clinic being devoid of windows. It was that late already?

Behind him, the two humans were still talking to each other, albeit in a more hushed tone. 

“Did you hear anything bad?” Tango hissed.

“I can’t say I was paying attention,” Impulse admitted, “There were…other things on my mind. From what I heard, it was pretty normal. Housing, budgets, protection, the stuff.”

“Okay,” Tango sneaked a glance at Zed, “I saw Mr. Void in the corridor. He was smiling more than he should be, so I got a bit worried.”

“Why does he keep smiling like that? It’s creepy.”

“You’re just weak,” Tango smirked, before his voice raised in volume, “In 5 minutes? We better run if we want to catch that bus!”

Zed looked away from the window, “You’re leaving?”

“Yeah, you’ll be fine, right?” Impulse asked.

“Of course,” the elf grinned at him, “I will be

Impulse could only nod, “That’s good then.”

\---------------------------

It still took nearly 5 minutes of Zed saying he’ll be alright for them to finally leave. Tango ran out the door first, as Impulse reluctantly chased after him.

Only to stop when he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

Impulse whirled around, wondering how he got sneaked up on. His eyes met with the emerald green of Xisuma’s.

Whispering, the doctor told him, “Our deal, I would appreciate it if he doesn’t know about it.”

All Impulse could do was nod.

“Good,” Xisuma glanced at his ward, “You won’t be the only one, but try your best to keep him safe, would you?”

“I…” at a loss for words, Impulse replied dumbly, “I will.”

“Run along then,” the doctor backed away and, without another word, left Impulse on his own. Yet, even with his back turned, Impulse still felt like his eyes were on him. 

He couldn’t help but shivered. 

Behind him, the door of the clinic began to close, a creaky sound that made his ears rang until it finally shut completely.

It was a late afternoon. The sun set in the distant, casting an orange glow across the town and shrouding the other half in shadow. The wind blew past Impulse, sending waves of dust and leaves with it. 

Farther away, a bus was starting to appear around the corner, windows shadowed by the sun behind it. Tango was waving at him, shouting something akin to, “You want me to leave you behind?”

Impulse was still gazing at the clinic. It looked like any other building, now that he couldn’t see what was inside. No sign, nobody coming in or out, just an old-fashioned red brick building in the corner of an almost empty street. 

Nothing special. Nothing to be afraid of. 

“Impulse!”

The exorcist teared his eyes away from the building to find his voice yelling back—

“Wait for me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ack, not happy with this chapter either. Welp.
> 
> Originally, I was thinking of letting Zed stay with them, but it seemed like a quick jump for that, especially for Tango. I’ll just do...something else, instead. I’ll also need to stop Impulse’s backstory from seeping in before it gets out of hand.
> 
> Hitting the 20th chapter mark, which I was hoping we wouldn’t reach. At least it’s the final stretch now.


	21. Chapter 21

When he was informed of their dwindling supplies of food, Impulse had happily chosen to be the one to go out and buy more. His brain could benefit from a walk, and this seemed like the perfect excuse.

Unfortunately, even after getting everything they needed, paying, then taking the bus all the way home, Impulse was still waiting for his brain to catch up and move on. It was painful, simply reflecting on what he had done. Even with Zed’s reassurance, he still felt guilty. Promises were important, and Impulse had given Zed his, only to not fulfill it.

Nothing good ever comes out of a broken promise, he would know that.

With a click of the lock, Impulse stuffed the keys into his pocket. They jingled slightly with the movement, the only sound in an otherwise empty hallway.

Distinctly, he was reminded of when he first met Zedaph. In this same hallway, at about the same time as well. Regret bubbled under his skin, and Impulse quickly buried them down.

There was some shuffling behind him, sounds of boxes moving. Impulse adjusted his grocery bags to try and make himself look busy. It was probably the neighbour going about their day, and Impulse didn’t want any questions from them about why he was standing there weirdly, like some sort of alien trying to find its way around.

“You got to be kidding me,” He heard a voice speak behind him. A young, boyish voice. Impulse couldn’t help but think it sounded oddly familiar…

Impulse spun around, as one often does in situations like this. He was almost prepared to have his hope crushed, to have it be a stranger, or a neighbour that he had met once or twice. Instead, in front of him, Zedaph stared back with as much confusion as Impulse was feeling himself. The elf moved his mouth up and down in shock, the boxes in his hands shifting, nearly toppling over.

“Y-You’re-” Impulse pointed to the boxes, “ _Huh_?”

There was still silence. You could almost hear a pin drop.

“...Surprise?” Zed scratched his head sheepishly, “I _thought_ I recognized the route here. Now the terms they gave me make sense, ‘You just need to go along with it.’ I’m guessing I was dupe.”

“...What?”

“My new house,” Zed turned and gestured to the door of his...old home, “Officially with paid rent. At least that’s what they told me.”

“You’re living there? Like, _really_ living there?”

“Yes?” Shrugging nervously, Zed eyed him, “I’m sorry. I know this is inconvenient. Uhm.. maybe I could move if it’s too much of a bother-”

“What are you talking about?” Impulse beamed at him, “This is amazing news! Wait here, I gotta tell Tango.”

Zed jolted, pausing to his rambling to instead panicked, “Wait, wouldn’t he be-”

But Impulse was already gone. Opening the door faster than he had ever done it before, he burst inside his own apartment, “Tango! You’re not going to believe who the new neighbour is!”

“Is it Zed?” Zedaph heard Tango yelled back, his voice muffled.

“Yep!” 

“That fucking bastard,” Tango grumbled back, “I _knew_ he would do that.”

Zed chuckled nervously as he unlocked the door, watching it swing back to reveal a familiar sight. 

Everything looked the same as how he had left it. He could even feel the illusions tugging at his body, recognizing that its maker was back. It was calming, but cold at the same time, like it was aware that he was using it to hide from the world.

Taking a long, deep breath, Zed adjusted the boxes in his hands and took his first step inside his new (but not really) home.

\----------------------------

Throughout the day, Zed worked to open the cardboard boxes one by one, moving things into the apartment. The cabinets started to be filled with utensils, decorations sat on tables and counters. Impulse came by some times after he had settled in and not only helped him furnish up the place, but also gifting him an assortment of charms.

“For peace, both mind and body,” The exorcist gestured to a gold charm he was holding up. It was shaped like some sort of animal that Zed didn’t recognize, “You should put this by the entrance.”

“Thank you,” Zed took it hesitantly. The charm seemed to glow, but that was probably just the sunlight shining through the window. Nevertheless, it still found its way onto his door, beside a coat that he heard could block water.

Looking around the flat, it almost felt like back in his room at the palace, except a lot humbler. He could actually move around freely, without anybody watching his actions. That was one upside, at least. There was probably more, but Zed was too occupied to list them all out. No, he was still struggling to process the fact that he was here now, in the human’s world, _living_ here.

He wondered if Cleo would be proud. 

\----------------------------

The very first night he officially spent there was painful. He turned and tossed in his sleep, before deciding to wake up and brew a cup of tea. A kettle was put on the stove and Zed just stood there, watching, _thinking_.

Just thinking. It was silent, almost melancholic. He had found pretty early on that most nights here were like that. No sound of water droplets dripping onto leaves, no noises of animals running around in the forest, nothing like back in the elven realm. 

(He couldn’t help but constantly compared the two worlds. Maybe that was him questioning whether this was all worth it).

Silence. Just him and the screeching kettle and his thoughts. Speaking of, maybe he should turn the stove off now. 

The tea was ready only a minute after. He stared down at the steaming cup, momentarily forgetting what he was doing before his brain caught up and called him an idiot. An idiot for doubting, an idiot for looking back at the past. Maybe he deserved that.

The tea’s bitterness managed to distract him, if only a little bit. Zed viewed it as a good thing. He shouldn’t be wasting time pondering in the first place, but if it takes leaf juice water to make him think of something else, then he might as well drink a lot of it. And he did, brewing another cup, and another, and another. Until the sun began to rise in the horizon, and the very first light shone through the blinds. Until, finally, morning came to greet him.

\----------------------------

It was late afternoon now, and Zedaph was just finishing up the bathroom when he heard a knock. Immediately, he presumed it was Impulse, seeing that there was really no other option. 

He went to get it, mustering up the best smile he could do after a night of no sleep as he opened the door, “Good morning, thanks for coming over and-.”

He stopped dead as he stared into a single red eye. Before him, Tango crossed his arms, tilting his head to the side, “Not expecting me then.”

“No?” Zed said, “I mean...sorry, sorry, just, I wasn’t-.”

“Expecting me, yeah, I just said,” Tango looked past him into the house, “Can I come in?”

“Sure…?” Honestly, Zed didn’t know why he was acting like such. He blamed the ungodly amount of tea in his body. 

Tango walked in as Zed closed the door behind him, his eye scanning around the immediately visible living room, “Nice house.”

“I’m working on it,” Zed nervously laughed, “Thanks.”

“Look exactly the same as my apartment. I guess that is to be expected,” Tango turned to the elf, “Anyway, Impulse is sleeping in today since he chose to be stupid and stayed up late night writing some kind of report. I decided to come instead.”

“You decided to come?” Zed repeated, “Voluntarily?”

“...Yes?” Tango shrugged, “Moving in is hard. You’re gonna need all the help you can get.”

“But I thought...” Zed cleared his throat, “Thank you.”

Tango stared at him strangely for a moment before his eye moved to the boxes and tools littered on the ground, “So, where should I start?”

“I just got the restroom done,” Zed gestured as he spoke, pointing to the mess that was currently on the floor, “Right now, I’m trying to figure out where all this stuff goes.”

“Oh,” Tango followed his hands to the pile of cables and electronics, “Yeah, you’ll need help with that.”

“Thanks.”

Zed spent the next hour or so being confused. First, Tango wanted to explain to him things like “internet”, or “wifi”. It was all very disorienting and he couldn’t understand it at all. There was a lot of plugging and unplugging and then plugging the cable things in the exact same spot again. The black box that Tango called a “router” had blinking lights on it that Zed stared at forever trying to figure out how it worked. And apparently this wasn't magic? Certainly looked like it to him

“How have you been living here without knowing any of this?” Tango asked irritatedly.

“Actually, I do know how to use the stove!” The elf boasted, “I brewed some tea last night.”

“Tea. Fucking tea.”

“I’m guessing you don’t like it then,” Zed chuckled, “They’re actually great for calming down. Maybe you should try them.”

Tango narrowed his eye, “And what, exactly, are you implying by that?”

“Uhm...nothing.”

“That’s what I thought. Now give me that yellow plug, it’s over there.”

Zed handed him the plug without question, choosing to just let Tango do his things. It was almost peaceful, sitting back and nodding off to whatever was said. He had to resist the urge to yawn, cursing his lack of sleep for it.

Tango rambled on about how stuff worked, his tone (surprisingly) not quite angry, but blunt. Zed was starting to hear the difference between the two moods. Tang really was a hard code to crack, and Zed wasn’t sure he could ever understand the man, but at least there was some progress. Frankly, Tango reminded him exactly of the stereotypical humans the elves always talked about back home. Harsh, generally unfriendly. Very much unlike Impulse, who was kind and wanted everyone around him to be happy. Or Cleo. Smart, funny Cleo, who could diss anybody she didn’t like but remained loyal to her friends.

No, Tango was cold, hostile, and he pushed you without even trying. Except then he started doing things that Zed couldn’t explain, like helping him even after their argument. Or being fine with him staying with them. 

And now, this. Tango was helping him move in, even though his presence could mean danger. Danger that Tango had said he wanted nothing to do with. It was unreasonable, inconsistent. It didn’t make any sense, and Zed was just a bit frustrated by it.

Just a bit frustrated for now.

“What?” Tango pulled him out of his thought, “Why are you just looking at me like that? Are you _still_ not getting it?”

“Getting what?” Zed cocked his head, “All I’m seeing is a black box with long sticks protruding from it.”

“Those aren’t sticks, they’re antennas-” Tango nearly yelled, but he seemed to have caught himself on time, “Nevermind, I’ll just explain again. Listen closely again, this is the-”

He repeated explanations, and Zed almost wanted to tell him that nobody had been listening, just to rile him up a bit. But instead, his big mouth had to go and stabbed him in the back when, out of the blue, it blurted, “Are you alright with this?” 

“...Alright with what?”

“Oh, goodness me!” Zed groaned and mentally cursed himself. He hadn’t planned this conversation at all, “ _This_! Me staying here! You’re alright with that?!”

Tango stared at him like he had suddenly turned into one of those black boxes with protruding sticks, “Well, it’s not like I have a choice.”

“That’s not an answer-”

“What would you want me to say then?” Tango glared, “I don’t know? You shouldn’t be here? Don’t think about how I feel, okay? Not in this.”

“And why is that?” Zed asked.

“Because...” Tango let go of all the cables, “Look, you’re here because you literally have nowhere else to go. I’m certainly not going to be such a jerk about that.”

“I have other places!” 

“Oh yeah, like where?”

“I...uhm…” Zed hesitated, “Huh. Maybe I could run around on the street or something. Or survive in the wildness. Do you guys have forest?”

“And I’m assuming you know how to live in those kinds of places,” Tango glared at him, “Zed, you know less than an average human. Fuck, maybe even an average child. I doubt you could just go anywhere you want-”

“Well, maybe I just want some place away from you!” 

Tango blinked at him, his eye wide. Zed too was wondering what the shit he was doing. This was why he hadn’t wanted to talk like this in the first place, or so his brain conveniently forgot. Quickly covering his mouth, he stared fearfully at the man before him, expecting him to explode any second.

“Wow,” Instead, Tango simply chuckled, but Zed couldn’t hear any humour in it, “You really hate me that much, huh? That’s fine, I guess.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Zed immediately said.

“No, no, it’s okay. I’m not exactly what you would call a likable person,” Tango looked away, “If you don’t want to be here, I could talk to Mr. Void about it. I’m sure he could move you to another place, probably even one nicer than this apartment-”

“That’s not what I meant!” Zed yelled, “You’re fine! I’m just…I thought you didn’t like the supernaturals. Th-That’s why I don’t want to live near you. I don’t want you to be bothered or anything.”

Tango squinted his eye, “Bothered?” 

“Are you?”

“Well no, nothing has happened so far…” Tango trailed off, his words left hanging until his thought caught up to it, “Okay, I have to admit, I’m a little bothered-”

“See?”

“-But not as much as I would be before!” Tango sighed, “You know, after you guys left the clinic room, I laid on the bed, and rather than fall asleep, I thought about this instead. Or more specifically, that little argument we had before.”

“Oh,” Zed looked away, scratching his head, “I already said, I was in the wrong there. Supernaturals are very dangerous. A lot more so than normal hu-”

“No, no. Your point actually makes a lot of sense,” Tango sat, crisscrossing his legs. His eye had a faraway look in it, “Supernaturals do act a lot like humans, I would know. They’re fine, the problem wasn’t them.” Tango fidgeted with his fingers, scratching at his nails, “It’s just...whenever I’m near a supernatural, things always go wrong. It could be things completely unrelated to them, but it still kept on happening nevertheless. I...I was afraid, Zed. So I pushed them away, built a wall around myself. I started seeing it as supernaturals equals bad.”

Zed lowered his eyes, “Oh.”

“So yes, I’m bothered,” Tango sighed, “But...it’s not because of you. You’re okay...unless there’s more assassins coming, then we might not be...but, _you’re_ still okay.”

Zed laughed lightly at that, his thoughts drifting back to the past at the mention of assassins. Goodness knows, hopefully they had stopped coming. The prospect of having to face the humans _had_ to have scared some of them off. Of course it would. With how it was back home, humans being regarded as brutal and barbaric and all, they wouldn’t dare (except for that one dark elf the other day, but that one seemed a bit wrong in the head anyways). Most would back off at the prospect of the humans tearing them to shreds. 

The image of Impulse tearing anybody apart made him chuckled. Oh, ignorance. He could almost remember the times long ago when he was just like them.

“I know how you feel,” He said without even thinking about it, and only a small “huh?” from Tango managed to bring him back to reality, “About the whole wall around yourself stuff, yes?”

“What are you even talking about?” Tango tilted his head, brow raising, “Electricity somehow fry your brain? Did you eat anything wrong this morning?”

“ _No_!” Zed protested, almost offended, “I just...I know what it feels like, to view a group of beings as bad.”

Tango cocked his head, “...Huh?”

“The elves back home,” Zed rushed to explain, “A-And me too, I guess, a long time ago. We mostly see humans as stupid monsters. It was all that was ever written about you guys in the history scrolls. Barbaric, selfish, self-serving, general bad stuff.”

Tango was still raising his eyebrows, “Uhuh?”

“I’m pretty sure most of us hated you humans, or at least feared you. I was like that too...until Cleo came along.”

Tango looked at him nervously, “Impulse told me what happened…? Are you sure you want to share this with me?”

“He did?” Zed sighed, “Well, at least that would make things easier. I want to tell you this because...because I once thought all humans were trouble. They would bring wars, famine, death, all of them. No humans were good. Those were my thoughts...and then I met Cleo. When she came, I tried to avoid her at first, but we eventually warmed up to each other. We became friends, and the more I got to know her, the more I realized what I believed in, what most elves believed in, it was wrong, you know? That the knowledge we had on humans, they were somewhat overblown, outdated. I...still have some troubles with it now, but I’m trying to learn more everyday, for her.”

“And what?” Tango continued, his face a mask of indifference, “You’re saying that it’s the same with me and the supernaturals?”

“W-Well, I wouldn’t say it’s the same. You have actually experienced what you have been through, while I just believed what I was told,” Zed waved his hands, “But...I could see the parallels. All these things about grouping everyone as the same, it doesn’t do any good. Yeah, the supernatural might bring troubles more times than not, and you could continue to avoid them. Th-That’s alright,” Zed’s voice almost faded into a whisper, like he was afraid somebody was going to hear him, “But maybe someday, you will be proven wrong. Maybe you’ll even be glad to be proven wrong.”

Tango was staring out the window, as if he was imagining somebody there. Zed followed his gaze, but the only thing outside was a great view of the town, college, church, and all.

“...S-Sorry, for that,” Zed cleared his throat awkwardly, “I don't know what came over me. Just...rough night I guess.”

“Well, I’ve got good news for you, at least,” Standing up, Tango brushed the dust from his pants, “The system is all set up. You should have wifi here now. Ask Impulse what that is later. I don’t think I have enough energy right now to deal with anything.”

“...Thank you, Tango,” Zed said, “Really. I’m glad you came.”

Little flickers of light danced in Tango's eye and he gave the elf an almost smile. Closed-lipped, barely a quirk in his mouth, Zed would have missed it if he wasn’t staring directly into Tango’s face.

It looked nice anyway, however small it was. Zed gave a big grin back.

“Do you...need help with anything else?” Tango asked him.

“No, I think I got it from here. Only a few minor things left,” Zed wiped a sweat from his brow despite having been sitting for the last hour or so.

“I guess I’ll take my leave then.”

Zed guided him out to the entrance, “Thanks again,” He said, smiling. It felt good to, after last night. And he was especially glad to have somebody there to smile at.

“Thank you too,” Tango had almost whispered the words, but Zed heard them nevertheless, “I...I was actually reminded of somebody, after what you said, and maybe I’ll give it another try. So, thank you, I appreciate it.”

“It’s not a problem,” Zed reached out and patted him on the shoulder. Only once, the contact barely lasted a second, but it still felt like an achievement.

Tango lowered his head, “...And if it doesn’t work out…”

“You won’t know unless you try,” Zed eyed the golden charm Impulse had given him, hung upon the door. Peace, of both mind and body, “We’ll see.”

Tango gave him another small, nervous smile, and Zed was starting to like them already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you want the bois to be s o f t but the worldbuilding said no :(
> 
> But hope ya enjoy some downtime before this comes to an end.


	22. Chapter 22

It was late morning when he woke up. The sun rays shone through the curtain, annoyingly finding their ways right to his eyes. In his bed, Impulse groaned and turned away, pulling the blanket over his head. 

The digital clock blinked on the bedside table. Guiltily, Impulse averted his gaze from it. It wasn’t like he had to do anything, right? It was the weekend! He snuggled more into the blanket, praying that Zed wouldn’t slam his door open like last time. 

It had been a month since they first met. A month since there was any crazed elf assassin trespasser trying to break in. Impulse could see Zed slowly relaxing in their presence, getting used to the calmness. Presumably, the elven world had moved on from his absence. Things were looking up for him, and Impulse was glad. 

Now, Tango, on the other hand…

Impulse winced at the oncoming headache that came with the mention. Tango was acting...weird. Nothing too drastic, he wasn’t moping around again or anything. But he kept pacing around the house all day, as if something was bugging him. If not that, then he would be on his computer. Any attempt from Impulse to talk about the problem had resulted in failure, with the only clue he collected being from when Tango accidentally left his computer unlocked. It was just a small peek, Impulse wouldn’t say he was invading privacy or anything. 

Looking at the screen, he could only see the website of the college his roommate attended. It gave nothing away. Tango might as well have been looking at political news and that would give more insight into what the heck the issue was.

Impulse sighed in his bed. He was probably overreacting. For all he knew, there could be no problems at all. He just hoped Tango was doing okay.

As for him, Impulse would like to think he was doing relatively fine. His job was going smoothly, especially with both Zed and Tango helping him out. He got his first payment from Xisuma a few weeks ago and has been using that to do some research on salt and chants. 

His family, last he heard, was still the same as always. Not necessary good news, but at least they weren’t getting any more insults than before. He should still get a license fast though, else the situation gets worse in the future.

And...that was about his only goal. He was excited for it. It was what he had set his life out for.

Impulse’s eyes drifted to the clock, noting the time.

 _10:43 AM,_ he read, then had to repeat it in his head again before the number started to mean something, _10:43 AM...shoot!_

Immediately, he jumped out of bed, cover flying into the corner. It was late, it was very late. He was glad that he had no cases today at least, but this wouldn’t do any good to his routine. What if he wakes up late on work day? What if his sleepiness made him sluggish while chasing after a ghost or a zombie? 

Frantically, Impulse rushed outside his room, “Good morning!” He called, realizing just how late he had woken up when he saw Tango waving at him in the kitchen, food already prepared. 

The bathroom door, which he coincidentally was standing next to, slammed open right after he had said that. From it, Zed burst out in all his glory, “Impulse, you’re awake!”

“Hey, Zed,” Impulse greeted him like he would normally, “Visiting this morning?”  
  
“Of course, I want breakfast,” the elf replied, “...But also, I’m here because I forgot to buy more toothpaste.”

Impulse raised an eyebrow, “Do you even need to brush your teeth?”

“No, I’ve never had to do it before coming here,” Zed shrugged, “But it feels nice, so I like it. By the way, which one is the toothpaste?” He held up two white tubes for Impulse to see.

“Zed!” The exorcist was about to reply when Tango came over, interrupting their conversation, “Why are you holding my hair wax!”

“Hair wax?” Zed looked between the two tubes, “Which one is that?”

“Yes,” Tango set the plate he was holding down onto the counter and walked over. Plucking both white tubes out of Zedaph’s hands, he pointed into the bathroom, “The toothpaste is the bright red one by the sink.”

“Oh, oops,” Laughing nervously, Zed got back into the bathroom. 

Impulse chuckled at the sight, “I didn’t know you use hair products,” 

“What? You think my hair looks this good naturally?”

“Tango, your hair is a mess.”

“It’s a planned mess!”

“Yeah, whatever you say.”

Tango huffed as he brought out more food, filling the table with plates of bacon, eggs, and most importantly, pancakes. Impulse sniffed at the air, grinning like a drunken fool. Only a few minutes after, Zed came out of the bathroom and the three of them settled down for breakfast.

As usual, it was delicious, reminding Impulse once again how fortunate he was that one of them knew how to cook. Honestly, he couldn’t imagine living by himself. Impulse recalled the early days of his apprenticeship, living on the roads with junk food and instant noodles. He shuddered to himself.

Next to him, Zed devoured the meal with just as much passion, though that might just be him being easily impressionable with humans’ food. Tango rolled his eye at the elf when he began choking, “Eat slower. What are you, a pig?”

“What..” Zed paused to cough, “What is a pig?”

Tango cringed at the sight, quickly handing the elf a paper towel, “Whatever, just calm down. It’s not like the food is going anywhere.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Zed coughed some more and now Impulse was starting to worry about choking hazard, “But like...there are taste!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. You ate vegetables all your life. That sucks,” Tango said, his voice monotone, “I don’t care, now stop coughing.”

“Sorry,” Zed coughed, and Tango released a loud, very noticeable sigh.

Impulse watched on the sideline as the two bantered back and forth, his mouth quirked up in a discreet smile. Time like these always made him wonder what it would be like if they were all living a normal life. If he wasn’t an exorcist, Zed not an elf, and Tango...had a functional support system.

If they were just simply humans, like most of the people around them. What they would be like, he wondered. It was an interesting thought, even if it will probably never be answered.

“Impulse, stop poking your food like a child,” Tango grumbled, unknowingly interrupting Impulse in his thought, “Seriously, what is it with you two? Am I the only one here with manners?”

“I have manners!” Zed squeaked like one of those chicken you squeezed, “I’m a prince!”

“Uhuh, maybe back in your world,” Impulse chuckled as he looked over his roommate. Tango was more relaxed today, at least. More relaxed than he had been for the entire month even. He seemed different, somehow.

Impulse was in the process of wondering why when he noticed something that could be the answer. Scanning over the man, he thought out loud, “Tango...what are you wearing?”

“Huh?” As Tango sent him one of his “are you kidding me” look, Impulse examined the outfit again. A loose white dress shirt with jeans. They were all clean and ironed, the kind of outfit you would wear to an interview.

Without thinking, he blurted out, “Are you going somewhere?”

“Can I not dress nicely without somebody questioning it?” Tango murmured under his breath before sighing, “But yes, actually, I am.”

“Oh,” Impulse waited for Tango to elaborate. When it was clear that he wasn’t about to add anything, the exorcist followed up with, “Where to?”

“...The college campus. I have to talk to one of the administrators,” Tango pursed his lips, looking a bit hesitant to share, “I’m…planning to change my course back to engineering, but the deadline was a long time ago, so now I have to go and speak to them about it.”

“You...think that will be alright?” Impulse put down his utensils.

Tango shrugged as he stood up, empty dishes in hands, “It’s no big deal. There’s not a lot of people attending anyway, so they’ll probably just let me in.” He walked over to the sink and dumped all the dishes inside, filling it up to the very top. 

Impulse groaned at the sight.

“Engineering? I’m pretty sure there are some elves doing that back home,” Zed jumped from his chair, leaving Impulse the only one still seated at the table, “I wonder if ours is the same as yours.”

Tango shrugged, “Probably not, judging from how different our world is to you. We could always compare notes.”

“Maybe,” Zed looked like he was actually giving it a thought.

Impulse cleared his throat, steering the conversation back on topic, “Alright Tango, you’re thinking about going back to engineering. That’s great, but what about…” he paused, shooting at glance at Zed.

The elf met his eyes, face showing only obliviousness. Impulse reminded himself to explain it later. 

“...My professor?” Tango sighed, drumming his fingers on the counter, “Yeah...that’s the issue isn’t it?”

Impulse waited for him to continue. He never did.

“Who’s this professor?” Zed piped up, completely cheery in contrast to the mood. Internally, Impulse winced, “What’s their problem?”

“He’s...a friend,” sighed Tango, ”...And a supernatural.”

Impulse dared not interrupted, choosing to instead cleared his throat awkwardly. His mind was screaming at him to correct that, _No, he isn’t just a supernatural, he’s a demon of all thing!_

He chose to ignore it. After all, it was more Tango’s business than his.

“It would be awkward, but I want to speak with him again,” Tango mumbled.

“...Oh,” Zed’s eyes widened. Unusually quiet, he said, “Is he the one?”

“Yeah,” Tango exhaled slowly. Impulse twitched in his seat, wanting to question what was happening while also not wanting to interrupt the moment.

Zed cocked his head, “So...you’re going for it?”

Tango nodded, and Impulse glanced between them, confused as they exchanged a strange look. He wasn’t quite sure what to think, but judging from the big grin Zed had on his face, it might be something good…?

There was still one problem though, “Wait, hold on! I thought you don’t like supernaturals?”

“I don’t,” Tango replied casually, “But I’m gonna chance it, if you haven’t been listening.”

His eyes felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets as Impulse stared at his roommate, “But...why?”

“As I said, he’s a friend,” Tango gritted out, an annoyed blush creeping up his face, “And...I won’t forget that just because he’s a supernatural. Besides, he hadn’t done anything to me yet.”

In his head, Impulse coped with that statement by imagining himself screaming into the void. It was very therapeutic, he just wished he could do it in real life.

“I think it will turns out great!” Zed exclaimed, flashing a smile at Tango.

“Maybe…” Tango bit his lips.

“Oh, come on, be more optimistic about it!” Zed came over and slapped Tango on the back, making the other blond visibly wincing.

“Yeah, but hold on,” Impulse fidgeted with his fingers as he interrupted, “Are you, like, sure?”

“Well, no,” Tango replied matter-of-factly, “Pretty sure I’ll never be. But that just meant I have no better time to do it than now.”

“... _Very sure_?” Impulse repeated.

“Look, Impulse, I know you noticed me pacing around like an idiot the past weeks,” Tango waved his hands dismissively, “I also know you saw my computer, which is fucking rude by the way-”

Impulse looked away, gulping. 

“-But it meant that you know I have been thinking about this for the whole month,” Tango crossed his arms, “This decision didn’t come lightly, okay? As I said, I’ll never be sure, but I have to stop hesitating at some point.”

He looked away, ending the conversation. All Impulse could do was let out a tiny, “Okay...”

“Good luck!” Zed cheered as he backed away to the hallway, “I’m so excited for you. But anyway, I’m going back to my house. Let me know how it goes.”

“No, I don’t think I will,” Tango grumbled, though there was no real bite in it.

“Hm? Why not?” 

“Please,” Tango rolled his eye, “You’ll never stop talking about it.”

“We’ll see about that,” Zed giggled as he left, voice echoing all the way into the hallway.

Now alone with Tango, Impulse was stilled, processing the information. Was it just him or was the room getting hotter by the minute? As he gripped onto the hem of his shirt, Impulse was starting to fear the answer.

“Impulse,” came Tango, calling him out of his mind, “Hey.”

“Huh?” He nearly choked on his words in reply.

“I want to know what you think about this,” Tango shrugged, “You know more about supernaturals than I do.”

“Uhm...I don’t know,” Impulse murmured, “Not all of them.”

“But you know about Doc, right?”

“Yeah…?”

“Well, I’m waiting,” Tango tapped his fingers impatiently, “What’s he supposed to be?”

“He’s…” his voice faltered, carefully choosing his words, “He’s...a demon, or one type of it.”

“That certainly sounds frightening,” Tango said, voice not holding an ounce of fear, “Tell me more.”

Impulse pursed his lips, “They don’t exactly have the best reputation to humans. Demons being portrayed as bad and all. I’m pretty sure they have magic? Or maybe that’s exclusive to some types. They’re weak against silver and holy symbols...” he gulped, avoiding the other’s eye, “Honestly, I don't know much, being an apprentice. Sorry.”

“Okay,” Tango said, “That’s alright. And what do you think about all this?”

“Me?” Impulse pointed to himself, “I said I don’t exactly know-”

“Yada, yada,” Tango waved his hands dismissively, “I want an opinion, a definite one. Should I do this or not?”

The entire world faded away as Impulse hyper focused onto his fingers, thoughts doing laps around in his head.

On one hand, demons. Killing and tricking humans was kind of their thing, and Impulse hadn’t forgotten the threat he had gotten from Tango’s deary old professor. It wasn’t wise to let Tango blindly run in, especially with him not knowing what he was dealing with.

But, then again, does _Impulse_ know what he was dealing with?

Heck, he didn't even know elves existed until Zed showed up. Who to say the library back home wasn’t missing other things? Maybe there were friendly demons. Doc certainly seemed nice enough when he was talking to Tango. Plus, they have known each other for years, and as Tango said, nothing bad has happened yet.

Sufficient to say, Impulse felt like this was way out of his league.

It was safer to just tell Tango that this was a bad idea. Demons were dangerous and should be avoided. Those words were at the tip of his mouth, and Impulse was so close to saying it.

He was so close.

Then he thought back on the last few months they have been living together. How Tango was always either at home or out with him. He didn’t seem to have anybody around him. No friends inviting him to party. No neighbours visiting. At least Impulse got a few coworkers he would hang out with from time to time. At least he had people beside him to laugh and share jokes with.

Tango had only a few contacts and even fewer he could easily talk to. 

Impulse clenched his hands, praying to high heaven that nobody at home could see what he was about to do. Opening his mouth, he said, “Go for it, if you trust him.”

Tango blinked at him, seemingly taken back, “Really?”

Impulse nodded numbly, “Hopefully, you won’t get disappointed.”

“Okay...,” Tango sighed a long sigh. Unlike his usual one though, this was filled with relief, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulder. His eye even crinkled a bit as he said, “I guess we’ll just have to see how it goes.”

“Yeah...” No matter how much he tried, Impulse couldn’t help but smiled back, “I guess we’ll just have to see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m thinking one more chapter, a pretty casual one just to bring the action back down. Goodness knows why it’s so much harder to end this story than to begun it. Aghhh


	23. Chapter 23

The world had a weird way of working.

Only a few months ago, if anybody had asked Tango where he thought he would end up, this would have been at the very bottom of his list. Maybe it wouldn’t even make it on.

And yet, there he was, still.

Tango sighed, feeling as the cool air brushed past his skin. The sky, devoid of any cloud, promised a good day. He wasn’t too hopeful though, as per usual.

What a place he’d found himself at. Living with an exorcist, an elf as his neighbour. There were definitely worse situations he could be in though. _Much_ worse situations. So he didn’t mind it too much.

Or so Tango thought. 

Technically, he was right. Living with the others was okay, even if they can be a bit hard-headed. No, what surprised him was just how much they managed to grow on him. Impulse was already there, of course, and they got to know each other fairly easily. But Zed, he had expected the elf to be distant. Maybe they could visit each other from time to time, but no more than that. 

Alas, that very reasonable theory was proven completely wrong once Zed started showing up for breakfast every morning (because he couldn’t cook). Not only that, he would often drag them to places he wanted to sightsee (because he didn’t want to get lost). Sufficient to say, it was a lot of convenient _because_. 

Expectedly, Impulse happily agreed, but Tango found that he needed a few days to adjust. 

Or a few weeks...

Or maybe never. But Zed, being the little shit that he was, laughed in his face after hearing that.

While the cooking part he didn’t mind, it was the whole “go with me to places!” deal that was the problem. A problem that they solved by continuously pressuring him until he finally relented, using annoying tactics like nagging him constantly and making up excuses for him to go outside.

Turn out, it wasn’t so bad. Sure, things could go horribly wrong. Like when Zed got scared off by the loud music at a concert. He complained about it for the whole week, and either Impulse nor Tango stopped him, seeing that nobody could disagree.

Other times though, it was...great. Nothing went wrong. They laughed and had fun together. It had been such a long time since Tango remembered going anything like that. 

He missed it.

But they were not going anywhere today, evident by the fact that they were currently lounging around on Zed’s balcony. It was just the three of them, relaxing in the early morning. 

Standing beside him, Impulse was trying to talk Zed into shaking a soda bottle. Tango stifled a laugh when he saw the confusion on the elf’s face as he stood there dumbly, listening and nodding to whatever Impulse was saying. The sight was just stupid enough to distract Tango from his worries.

There was only one more week until class began. One week till he would see his professor again. Still, he was working on what he would be saying, the last script getting trashed for having too much swearing. It felt like he wasn’t going to make it on time.

One more week. He exhaled, the stress beginning to build up in his chest. The last few days were plagued with sleepless nights he spent worrying, Tango was really hoping it would not repeat. Unfortunately, things weren't looking that promising.

One more week.

Then he looked back at Zed to see the overflowing bottle in his hands...and promptly burst out laughing. 

It was still there, the worries, the underlying sense of dread. But for one moment, those feelings were all pushed to the side.

“You trick me!” Zed gaped at his hands, now smelling vaguely of sugar, “I thought you said it would taste better, not explode!”

Impulse, too busy wheezing, didn’t reply.

Tango rolled his eye at their antics, though he didn a poor job of hiding his amusement, “Somebody is gonna have to clean that up, and it won’t be me.”

“And I’m the victim here, so I’m not cleaning this up!” Zed pointed at the exorcist, “You shit moth-!”

“Zed, no-” his voice coming out a tiny squeak, Impulse laughed even harder.

“Let him swear, at least he’s doing it right this time,” Tango leaned against the railings of the balcony, careful to avoid the growing puddle on the ground. It was slightly funny to see the tiny grey threads slowly expanding outward like some kind of wormy bugs.

“Really?” Hearing that, Zed gasped.

“No.”

There was a reason they were out on the balcony that day. Zed had told them about the view he had, noting it down as one of the reasons he chose this place in particular to live in instead of the other empty apartments. While that still wasn’t a very legal thing to do, a good view was still a good view. 

Tango took out his phone, noting the time, “Oi, it’s up in 5 minutes.”

Forgetting the soda completely, Zedaph grinned. Next to him, Impulse gave a thumb up and held up a camera.

Tango looked out toward the horizon.

His future still wasn’t something he could be sure about. There was Doc, obviously. There was also Mr. Void and whatever the hell he’d done this time. Plus, one of his eyes was still missing, which Tango would argue was a pretty big issue.

To say the least, his life was pretty fucked up with all of its problems. But this, this was alright. This he was happy with. 

And the others felt the same, he was sure. They all had their share of baggages. Tango could only pretend not to notice the one trash can Zedaph had in his home, overfilling with tissues and tea packages. Or how Impulse would frequently get into an argument with somebody over the phone. 

It was a mess, they were a mess. But at least they have today to forget the problems and just relax in peace. It was such an unfamiliar feeling, to be content with being, but Tango supposed it was alright.

A cheer came from behind him. Tango looked up into the horizon and saw the sun as it began to peek out from below the mountains, painting the sky with its mellow orange glow. The cool air dissipated around him, replaced with a pleasant warmthness. 

He grinned, joining the others in the noise by letting out a whoop of his own. Their neighbours would definitely be mad later, he knew that. But for this moment, it was just the three of them.

The chilly wind sent one last blow before fading, giving way to the sun rays that shone brightly across the town. Tango found himself smiling at it. His heart wasn’t quite free yet, but it was lighter. Lighter than it had been in years. For once, he could see hope among the threads clouding his vision. It shone brightly like the rising sun before him.

And with it, maybe he too could move onto a new dawn.

\----------------------------

On a balcony that day, in the early hours of the morning, there were three. 

Three different lives. Three different fates. Their paths began separated, and yet, somehow, they had found each other.

Red, gold, and purple threads, seeming intertwined. Their futures were uncertain, but that won’t stop them from hoping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, this was difficult. Sorry for taking a long time.
> 
> I wrote like 10 drafts, all with different setting and plot, for this haha (kill me). Originally, I was planning on ending the story with the last chapter, but then I decided it would be more appropriate for Tango to have the final POV. So, here it is. It’s very DRAMATIC, hope y'all like it.
> 
> For now, I'm taking a break from writing. This have been a real trip, and I'll need some regrouping before I could begin with anything else. Enjoy reading!


End file.
